Govt requests extra MVR 699m in council grants
With this adjustment, councils will receive more than MVR 2 billion in block grants.
Finance minister Moosa Zameer on Wednesday asked parliament to allocate the missing portion of the block grant to local councils in next year's budget from the contingency budget.
The request follows concerns raised over the budgeted amount for councils.
The government's MVR 56.6 billion budget, presented last week, included MVR 1.4 billion in block grants to councils, accounting for 2% of the total budget.
However, councils and political parties raised concerns, emphasising that the Decentralisation Act mandates 5% of the annual budget to be allocated as block grants.
In response to these concerns, Zameer sent a letter to parliament.
The letter was read during Wednesday's sitting, stating that the government plans to adhere to the standards outlined in the law for calculating block grants in the proposed budget.
With this adjustment, councils will receive more than MVR 2 billion in block grants.
