The audit report of the entire government expenditure by the Audit Office has revealed that the amounts claimed to have been invested by the Sovereign Development Fund (SDF) by the last MDP government do not match.

The Audit Office has released its 2022 expenditure audit report. In the report, the Audit Office said that according to the state's financial accounts system, MVR 2.7 billion has been deposited in the SDF in 2022. However, the SDF statements provided by the Finance Ministry to the Audit Office show that the amount has increased to MVR 3.2 billion, the report said.

The Finance Ministry did not provide details on how the difference came about, the audit office said.

“Due to this discrepancy, the quantum of sovereign fund figures and the authenticity of the amount invested cannot be ascertained,” the audit report said.

Therefore, the Audit Office has advised the Ministry of Finance to properly maintain the accounts of the SDF after investigating the reason for the difference in the amount of money invested in the SDF.

The SDF was established by the government of former President Abdullah Yameen. It was a fund created to pay off foreign debts.

The fund now has more than USD 50 million, according to the government.