Parliament sets 22 minutes per MP for 2026 budget debate

The General Committee of Parliament on Tuesday decided to allocate 22 minutes for each member to speak during the debate on the proposed 2026 State Budget.

The committee, responsible for setting the duration of the budget debate and the response time for the Minister of Finance, met to finalise the speaking schedule for members.

The meeting, chaired by Vice-Chairman and Holhudhoo MP Abdul Sattar Mohamed, decided that each member will receive a total of 22 minutes — seven minutes for the budget debate and 15 minutes to comment on the budget report.

The Minister of Finance will have 45 minutes to respond to the debate.

The proposal to maintain the same speaking time as the previous year was submitted by PNC MP Abdul Latheef Abdul Rahman and supported by PNC MP Ismail Shafeeu. The motion was passed unanimously.

The 2026 budget, presented by Finance Minister Moosa Zameer, totals MVR 64.2 billion.

The budget projects:

Total revenue and grants are estimated at MVR 40.4 billion, while expenditure is projected at MVR 49.2 billion. The government expects to finance a deficit of MVR 8.8 billion.

Recurrent expenditure accounts for 62 percent of the total budget, amounting to MVR 39.9 billion.