Govt wage bill rises 11% as PSIP spending falls 15%
The state budget approved by Parliament allocates MVR 14.8 billion for salaries and allowances for the current financial year.
Government spending on salaries and allowances for public sector employees increased by 11 per cent during the first half of the year, while expenditure on Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) projects declined by 15 per cent, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry's latest Weekly Fiscal Developments report shows that spending on salaries and allowances reached MVR 6.8 billion as of 16 July.
This represents an increase of MVR 685 million compared with the MVR 6.1 billion spent during the same period last year.
The state budget approved by Parliament allocates MVR 14.8 billion for salaries and allowances for the current financial year.
At the same time, expenditure on PSIP projects fell to MVR 3.2 billion, down MVR 602 million, or 15 per cent, from the corresponding period last year.
The report shows that Parliament approved a total state budget of MVR 64.2 billion for the year.
As of 16 July, total government expenditure had reached MVR 35 billion.
Of that amount, recurrent expenditure accounted for MVR 21.4 billion, while capital expenditure totalled MVR 3.2 billion.
The government also spent MVR 12 billion on debt servicing and loan repayments during the period.
