According to the weekly financial statistics released by the Ministry of Finance, the state budget expenditure up to last Thursday has decreased by 15.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The state approved a budget of MVR 56.6 billion for this year.

The Finance report shows that as of the end of last week, MVR 24.8 billion has been spent from the state budget. During the same period last year, MVR 29.4 billion was spent from the state budget. This represents a 15.6 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

Statistics show that recurrent expenditure as of the end of last week was MVR 21.7 billion. This is 1.7 percent lower than the same period last year.

Capital expenditure during this period has also decreased by 57.4 percent compared to last year. However, expenditure on salaries, allowances, and pensions has increased compared to the same period last year. While MVR 9 billion was spent on salaries, allowances, and pensions during this period last year, MVR 9.4 billion has been spent during the same period this year.

Financial statistics show that as of last Thursday, MVR 3.1 billion has been spent from the state budget as capital expenditure. This includes MVR 2.7 billion spent on infrastructure development, including road construction, bridges, and airport development.

Statistics show that while MVR 12.4 billion is estimated for the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP), MVR 4 billion has been spent on such programs so far this year.

According to the statistics, revenue and grants this year have increased by MVR 800 million compared to last year.

By increasing revenue over expenditure, the overall balance of the state budget has been maintained at a surplus of MVR 534.6 million as of the end of last week. The Finance Ministry states that the main reason for this is the measures taken to reduce expenditure.