The government has spent nearly three times the budgeted allocation for compensation payouts, as per records released by the Ministry of Finance.
Records show MVR 374 million has been spent on payouts thus far this year, while the budgeted figure was MVR 100 million, resulting in a 270 percent overspend.
While the actual allocation had been exhausted in the first six months, the ministry has so far not revealed the companies that such payouts were made to. Approximately MVR 1.6 billion has been paid out as compensation for the premature cancellation of government contracts over the past four years.
The Ministry of Finance is responsible for managing the nation’s public finances and has been led by Ibrahim Ameer since November 2018.