Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has called on government institutions to complete their assigned projects within the agreed deadline. He made the statement in his speech at the ceremony to conclude the Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR) event, which was held jointly with the Government of the Maldives and the World Bank.
At the ceremony, Minister Ameer expressed concern over 9% being disbursed from the total portfolio amount this year. The minister said the government is working on a number of actions to reform the way projects are managed with remedial measures consisting of greater accountability mechanisms. He said this includes replacing the employees at the Project Management Unit (PMU) if the government projects across the nation are not completed within the deadline.
Minister Ameer said steps should be taken against government employees responsible for delaying the progress of the projects in order to underline the importance of their work. He added changes will also be made in order to conduct the government projects in a transparent manner and to implement the recommendations of the World Bank.
Also speaking at the event, World Bank's Country Director for Maldives Faris Hadad Zervos said the portfolio of the Maldives almost doubled from 5-10 projects and from USD 80-182 million since 2017. He said the review completed at the event is one in a series of many, where the World Bank works closely with the government counterparts to improve implementation and efficiency.