President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has said that the government will allocate a portion of the state budget to provide higher salaries to the educated people applying for government jobs from next year.

Speaking at a ceremony held this evening to hand over certificates to the students who have secured high marks in last year's A-level examinations, the President said that while the government is working on the development of the Maldives, the biggest challenge is the lack of qualified professionals in the government.

He said that those pursuing higher education in the field of technical education do not apply for government jobs due to lack of good income and that is why some people are working abroad in the Maldives.

He said that in order to change this, it has been decided to pay the salaries of the private sector and even better within the government system. This will be done by taking a part of the infrastructure expenditure and spending on human development.

"Under the PSIP budget, MVR 200 million will be allocated annually from next year onwards to ensure that Maldivians are paid very high salaries from the government," President Dr. Muizzu said said.