Finance Ministry says last year the state budget deficit reached MVR 12.8 billion as the government struggled to cope with the economical ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest statistics by the ministry showed that last year, the state earned a total revenue of MVR 14.5 billion. It also showed that MVR 10.6 billion of this income was earned through taxation.
The state earned MVR 3.1 billion through non-tax sources and that this includes MVR 146 million it had earned through fines and levies.
The statistics from the Ministry showed that the state received MVR 853 as free aid while it earned MVR 10.7 million as a capital receipt in 2020.
The data noted that the government had spent a whopping MVR 9.8 billion on pension, salaries, and allowances last year. It had also spent MVR 185.5 million on administrative and non-refundable charges in 2020.
In 2020, the government had spent MVR 6.9 billion on building renovation, asset management, and developmental projects while it had paid MVR 1 billion as loan repayments.
The statistics showed that although the government had earned MVR 14.5 billion in 2020, its expenses had surpassed MVR 27.3 billion last year.
This had in turn had created a budget deficit of MVR 12.8 billion.
A budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue and indicate the financial health of a country.
