The Ministry of Finance has proposed a USD3.2 billion state budget for 2024. The finance ministry stated that the details of the budget were submitted to the Parliament in accordance with the Public Finance Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
The Constitution states that before the beginning of each fiscal year, the finance ministry shall submit to the Parliament a budget containing projected revenue and expenditures for the year, and a statement of actual revenue and expenditures for the preceding year. The ministry is required to submit the estimated budget for the coming year to the Parliament by November 1. The parliamentary regulations dictate that the parliamentarians complete all work related to the state budget by the end of November and go to recess.
The Minister of Finance should make arrangements to provide the details of the proposed state budget to the members through the Speaker. As such, the finance minister follows a policy of attending a sitting to provide information on the budget in a statement to the Parliament each year.
However, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has opted not to attend the sitting to propose the state budget, following the recommendation of the Attorney General's Office, as the submission of the budget coincided with a no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The parliamentary regulations dictate that all other proceedings of the Parliament should be suspended until a vote is cast on the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The finance minister was counseled to refrain from attending a Parliament sitting until the conclusion of the no-confidence motion.
The Parliamentary Group (PG) of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which submitted the no-confidence motion, stated that the finance minister had fulfilled his obligation by submitting the proposed state budget, even if he had not given a statement. The parliamentary regulations dictate that the parliamentarians complete all work related to the state budget by the end of November and go to recess.