Parliament has approved a resolution to raise state salaries, excluding any increments for the President, Vice-President, Ministers, and Members of Parliament.
In a decision that drew severe public backlash and criticism, the legislative body, after considering raises at committee stage, had earlier decided to increase salaries of the President, Vice-President and Members of Parliament (MPs). The Parliament since reviewed the decision and the committee’s most recent report, which was sent back to Wednesday’s session, did not include raises for the President, Vice-President or MPs.
The motion to increase salaries was passed by a vote of 49 members ‘for’ with only one member, MP for Central Henveiru Ali Azim of The Democrats, voting ‘against’.
The increase included those for the Judiciary, Independent Institutions as well as Councils and will add an additional MVR 69 million burden to the state budget annually — the 2024 budget includes a MVR 500 million allocation for salary increases.
Details for the salary increases in the Judiciary included;
| Designation | Revised Salary (MVR) | Previous Salary (MVR) |
| Chief Justice | 91,000 | 74,000 |
| Supreme Court Judges | 89,000 | 72,000 |
| Chief Justice at the High Court | 70,000 | 57,300 |
| High Court Judges | 68,000 | 55,300 |
| Senior Judges at the Criminal Court, Drug Court, Civil Court, Juvenile Court and Family Court | 62,000 | 48,000-50,000 |
| Judges at Criminal Court, Drug Court, Civil Court, Juvenile Court | 60,000 | 47,000-49,000 |
| Chief Magistrate at District Courts | 43,000 | 31,000-33,000 |
| Chief Magistrate and Magistrate at the Court | 41,000 | 29,400-31,400 |
The increase will see, the state spend MVR 9.08 million per month on salaries for judiciary — the previous figure was MVR 7.2 million.
Details for Council salary increases included;
| Designation | Revised Salary (MVR) | Previous Salary (MVR) |
| Mayors | 46,000 | 40,000 |
| Deputy Mayors | 40,500 | 35,000 |
| Atoll Council Presidents | 33,000 | 28,000 |
| City Council Members | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| Island Council Presidents | 25,500 | 20,000 |
| Island Council Vice-Presidents | 20,000 | 15,000 |
| Council Members | 18,000 | 13,000 |
This increase will see the state spend MVR 13.3 million per month on salaries for the councils — the previous figure was MVR 10.1 million.
Salary increases at other institutions and posts included; MVR 74,000 each to the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), the Auditor General and the Commissioner General of Taxation.
Meanwhile, Presidents of Independent Institutions will now receive MVR 59,000 per month, with Vice-Presidents of Independent Institutions receiving MVR 55,000.