The Budget committee has approved a budget of MVR 48.8 billion proposed by the previous government for the fiscal year 2024.

The budget was approved after an increase of MVR 3.7 million to the previous budget with some amendments made by the committee.

The previous government had presented a budget of MVR 49.5 billion to parliament. This is also more than the MVR 42.6 billion that the government proposed in 2022. The budget for 2014 was approved by the committee members unanimously.

One of the major changes in the budget was the removal of MVR 400 million allocated for the reclamation of Fushidhigaru falhu, an important project of President Muizzu’s government.

The amount was deducted from the budget on the ground that there was no provision in the budget on how to raise it. The MVR 400 million has been distributed among other projects. While MVR 400 million has been deducted from the budget for the reclamation of Fushidhigaru falhu, an additional MVR 400 million has been allocated in the budget for the reclamation of Gulhifalhu, Hulhumale’ and Girawarfalhu.

The Fushi Dhiggaru lagoon reclamation project has been included in the budget as a PSIP project. The funds allocated for the project were reduced after Dhandhoo MP passed a motion to reduce the budget for PSIP projects.