News

Finance Minister: MVR 2.5B saved from cost reduction steps

Published

3 days ago

27/06/2024

Finance Minister Dr. Mohamed Shafeeg states MVR 2.5 billion has been saved so far this year as a result of the steps implemented by the government to reduce cost.

Speaking at a meeting of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday, Minister Shafeeg said the results envisioned with the fiscal reforms and cost reduction steps implemented by the government have now begun emerging.

He emphasized the need to implement additional fiscal reforms in order to undertake the projects wanted by the government despite saving MVR 2.5 billion with the reforms and steps that have already been implemented. He noted that some sectors of the government were producing a significant amount of financial waste and in this trajectory, underscored the need to reform the management of state-owned companies.

While an MVR 49.8 billion budget has been passed for the prevailing year, Minister Shafeeg says significant difficulties will come into play in the future if reforms are not implemented. He said the government had initially planned to implement reforms by mid-year as the government is already facing difficulties in financing the budget.

“However, we had work by implementing reforms from day one; the result of which we are now seeing,” he added.

He detailed that MVR 17 million had been saved per month, to date, as a result of these reforms.

The Minister revealed that the government has begun implementing reforms in the health sector which could save a significant amount of money.

Referring to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s decision to implement a policy focused on cost reduction, revenue growth, and a medium-term revenue strategy during Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Minister Shafeeg said efforts are presently underway to formulate a timeline for the implementation of the agenda.

“Implementing this reform is no longer an option for us, but rather, something necessary,” he stressed.

Henceforth, he appealed for the cooperation of parliamentarians in this endeavor.

Finance Ministry had earlier warned that the budget deficit listed at MVR 14 billion initially in this year’s budget will climb up to MVR 20 billion if expenses are continued without fiscal reforms.

They had announced significant steps to reduce costs in February in light of this, which targeted to reduce expenditure through seven main aspects; promotions to staff, official trips, introduction of new allowances and similar aspects in this trajectory.

Parliament began inquiring about the exact details of state finances after alarms were raised by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim.

Initially, Minister Shafeeg had been summoned to a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Monday for the purpose. However, he had been unable to attend that day due to poor health.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Minister Saeed extends gratitude to ICBC for support

Published

2 hours ago

30/06/2024

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed has extended gratitude to the management Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for support rendered to the Maldives.

Minister Saeed, as part of his ongoing official visit to China, visited the bank’s headquarters in capital Beijing on Saturday.

He added that the bank’s support affirmed the importance attached by the Chinese side to extend their full support to implement the consensus reached between the presidents of Maldives and China.

Minister Saeed’s visit to China was to attend the 15th World Economic Forum, held at the Dalian Congress Hall in Dalian Province, China, from June 25th to June 27th.

As part of this visit, he has also met with the management of People’s bank of China (PBC) during which both sides deliberated on ways to expand cooperation between the two nations.

Besides this, the Minister also met with the Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, for discussions related to the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Maldives and China.

The chief of this discussion was on establishing a currency settlement system between the two countries, to enhance trade and commerce ties.

It is a key priority of Dr. Muizzu’s administration to seek such currency settlement agreements with bigger economic allies and frequent trade collaborators, to enhance trade convenience.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

50 undocumented migrants handed over to Immigration

Published

2 hours ago

30/06/2024

50 undocumented migrants were handed over to the custody of Maldives Immigration on Saturday, during a joint operation carried out by the Immigration and Maldives Police Service on Saturday.

Police said the operation was focused on various areas of Male’ including the local market and other similar markets.

50 undocumented migrants were identified during the operation, noted the Police, adding all of them have now been handed over to the custody of Immigration.

As per the Police, Saturday’s operation was spearheaded by Immigration itself.

Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of undocumented migrants would be resolved in three years under the recently launched ‘Operation Kurangi’.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport migrants, but to give them a chance to get regularized.

Notably, Maldives has recently halted the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh due to illegal recruitment by submission of counterfeit documents.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Customs nab MVR 1.6 mil worth smuggled cigarettes

Published

6 hours ago

30/06/2024

Maldives Customs Service has confiscated MVR 1.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.

Customs on Saturday said it recently conducted inspects in Male’ and Hulhumale’, as part of an investigation on alleged smuggled contraband.

The authority inspected one location from Hulhumale’ on Monday last week, and four venues from Male’ and Hulhumale’ later on Wednesday last week as part of the investigation.

173 cartons of 1,731,597 cigarettes were confiscated through Customs’ raids, with an estimated market value of MVR 1.6 million.

The duty on the now confiscated cigarette cartons is worth MVR 5.6 million, customs added.

Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) both lended support in Customs’ operations. The authority thanked both law enforcement agencies for their support.

Source(s): sun.mv