The government has included MVR 17.1 billion in next year's budget after increasing the salaries of employees working in government institutions.

According to the budget figures submitted to the Parliament last Thursday for the coming year, this amount covers 54,000 employees.

This is approximately MVR 3 billion more than what was budgeted for salaries this year. The budget for employee salaries this year is MVR 14.7 billion.

According to the budget, while there were 46,000 government employees this year, the number of government employees will increase by 7,000 in the upcoming year 2026.

As the number of employees increases and the government has raised employee salaries, MVR 1.7 billion has been included in next year's budget for pay harmonization.

The government has proposed a budget of MVR 64.2 billion for next year. Approximately 30 percent of that budget will be spent on employee salaries and benefits. Additionally, 62 percent of the budget will be spent on recurrent expenditures.