Govt denies MVR 101m compensation payout claims

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday denied reports that the government has paid MVR 101.7 million in compensation to various parties.

The ministry denied this, as some media reported that the government had paid MVR 101.7 million in compensation as of 30th of that month with the change of government on 17th last month. Some newspapers reported that, citing the weekly fiscal development report released by the ministry on Sunday.

The ministry said that although the report listed MVR 101.7 million as compensation, the money has not been released or processed so far.

"The amount shown in the weekly report is reported after the transaction was posted to the public accounting system in connection with an international arbitration," the finance ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the previous government had decided to compensate various places from the state budget. It was also decided to pay money to some places in connection with cases decided against the state by international arbitration.

Thus:

“However, after the assumption of this government, the Settlement Committee for Compensation has been dissolved and the cases examined by the committee are being reviewed with the advice of the Attorney General,” the ministry said in a statement.

The settlement committee set up by the previous government to resolve disputes over agreements between the government and the private sector and pay compensation was dissolved by the government on 22nd last month. According to the information released by the President’s Office that day: