Might not be able to give wages and subsidies if budget support is not facilitated- Finance Minister

Minister of Finance Abdullah Jihad has said that if the budget support is not facilitated then there might be difficulties in granting some of the subsidies and wages of the employees.

Speaking at the meeting of the Finance Committee of the Peoples’ Majlis yesterday, Minister Jihad said that the government has not been facilitated with any loans except the 300 million Ruffiya loan from Bank of Maldives from the 2 billion Ruffiya loans that the government should get as budget support. He said that because of this the state is facing a lot of financial problems in managing the expenditures of the state.

Jihad said that Jihad has said that it is important the Peoples’ Majlis expedite a decision on the loans to be taken for State budget support. He said that if the Majlis does not make a decision soon than the country might have to face severe economic problems.

Noting that the measures taken by the government to cut down the expenditure of the state, Minister Jihad said that the cabinet decided to cut down 15 percent from this year’s budget. However he said that he does not believe that it will be a large amount.

Jihad said that one of the biggest challenges in managing the state expenditure from this year’s state budget is the overdue bills of the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed for which the current government had to pay 2 billion ruffiya. He said that this 2 billion ruffiya was not included in the expenditure for this year when the state budget was passed. He added that this is causing a lot of difficulties for the present government.

The Minister Jihad said that while the estimated income for this year until now was 11 billion Rufiya, only 7 billion Ruffiya had been received. He added that the estimated costs for this period was 14 billion Ruffiya, while noting that 9 billion Ruffiya had already been spent.