The parliamentary budget committee has approved the USD422 million supplementary budget proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
The supplementary budget was first submitted on October 18 but was sent back for corrections and was re-submitted on October 25. The budgetary work has since stalled due to political disputes within Parliament.
However, the budget committee recently discussed and voted to approve the supplementary budget with 16 of the 19 members voting in favour. The members of The Democrats who spoke in opposition said the supplementary budget did not contain adequate information and that not enough time were given for debates.
Committee members who supported the supplementary budget said there was not enough time for debates due to obstacles imposed by the opposition, which had not given the opportunity for them to continue the work despite the budget being placed on the agenda several times. They added that passing the supplementary budget is important for the current government as well as the incoming administration.
The finance ministry submitted the supplementary budget to the Parliament in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitution. The article states that the ministry can propose a supplementary budget if the expenditure exceeds the projected estimate in the approved state budget.
The finance ministry stated that the supplementary budget will mainly be spent on Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIP), national health insurance, subsidies, and capital contributions to state-owned companies. The ministry stated that the productivity for PSIP projects increased during the year and other expenditures exceeded the budgeted amount, adding that the planned expenditure reduction measures have not been properly implemented.
The proposed supplementary budget allocates USD117 million for subsidies, USD78 million for the national health insurance scheme Aasandha, and USD110 million. An amendment has also been included to provide USD422,000 in assistance for the operation of registered broadcasting media service companies. The Parliament approved a USD2.8 billion state budget for 2023 and the supplement would increase the budget to USD3.2 billion.