The Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Ahmed Munawar, has said that salaries of employees at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be equal to or lower than that of civil servants. Munawar was speaking during a parliamentary Budget Committee meeting, reviewing the National Budget 2025, held with the MMA on Thursday.

There are already SOEs that the state is pumping money into, and it is important to review the salaries of employees working at such companies, he said.

“If the state pays them, it should be made equal to or lower than the salaries of civil servants,” he said.

Employees at SOEs are comparatively better paid than their counterparts in the civil service.

The Governor said he did not believe the state’s proposed financial reforms would go well unless salaries were reviewed.

SOE employees were numbered at 33,284 at the end of the first quarter of this year, according to a report released by the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board.