Maldives Parliament has approved the government's proposed budget of MVR 64.2 billion for the upcoming year 2026.

The Parliament approved the budget with the votes of 74 members out of 87 present at today's sitting. The 12 opposition MDP members did not vote to approve the budget.

Finance Minister Moosa Zameer presented the budget to Parliament on October 30th.

After studying the budget, the Parliament's Budget Committee approved it and submitted its report to Parliament on November 19th.

However, without changing the total proposed budget amount, the Budget Committee approved the MVR 64.2 billion budget in a way that allows an additional MVR 3.5 million for the Parliament itself. This was done by making adjustments to other items in the budget and reallocating the remaining funds to the Parliament's budget.

The budget debate in Parliament proceeded with each member given 15 minutes to speak. The budget debate concluded last Tuesday, after 60 members had spoken about the budget.

From yesterday until today, the debate on the Budget Committee's report continued, with speakers given seven minutes each.

Of the MVR 64.2 billion budget proposed for next year, MVR 39.9 billion, or 62 percent of the budget, is allocated for recurrent expenditure. The Minister stated that this includes a significant increase and harmonization of salaries for a large number of state employees after many years. The capital expenditure for next year is MVR 9.3 billion.

The estimated tax revenue for next year is MVR 31.3 billion. Non-tax revenue is projected at MVR 8.7 billion.

Including an estimated MVR 373.6 million in grants, the total revenue and grants for the state by the end of 2026 are projected to be MVR 40.3 billion.

This is a 6.6 percent increase compared to the current estimated total revenue and grants for this year.

"The budget proposed for the 2026 financial year is MVR 64,202,565,720 (Sixty-four billion, two hundred two million, five hundred sixty-five thousand, seven hundred twenty Rufiyaa). Excluding the MVR 9.3 billion for sukuk and bond repayments included in this budget, next year's budget is MVR 55 billion," Finance Minister Moosa Zameer stated while presenting the budget statement to Parliament on the 30th of last month.

However, many independent institutions requested the committee for an increase in their budget allocations, citing that the amounts initially determined in the budget were insufficient.

Ahmed Saleem, member for Eydhafushi constituency and Chairman of the Budget Committee, stated that due to significant expenditures planned for next year, the Ministry of Finance informed them that it would not be possible to provide the additional funds requested by the independent institutions for their budgets.