Ministry of Finance has revealed the state received USD 1.541 billion in 2019, while the expenditure of the state was at USD 1.780 billion.
The latest statistics published by the finance ministry shows the budget deficit stood at USD 233 million in 2019.
According to the statistics, of the USD 1.541 billion received by the state, USD 1.061 billion was received as tax and USD 71 million was received as grant aid.
The ministry had initially estimated to receive USD 1.554 billion in 2019. The ministry estimated to receive USD 1.068 billion as tax and USD 129 million as grant aid. The state received USD 408 million as non-tax revenue, up from the USD 362 million estimated.
Although the expenditure of the state was at USD 1.780 billion, it was a decrease from the USD 1.877 billion estimated for the year. In 2019, USD 1.295 billion was spent as recurrent cost, including USD 634 million spent as salaries, allowances and pension, and USD 602 million spent as administrative costs.
Although USD 466 million was spent as capital costs, it was a decrease from the USD 641 million estimated for the year. The capital costs also included USD 240 million spent on development projects under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). However, USD 466 million was allocated for development projects in State Budget 2019.