Category: Politics

“Poor financial record keeping” poses challenges to audit state enterprises: AG

The Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has expressed concern over poor record keeping at State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and said the public is entitled to know how much the state makes from an enterprise it owns or if the enterprise is making a profit or loss.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Niyaz said the independent audit office faces severe challenges in auditing SOEs, especially those in which the state is a minority share holder.

In some cases, even when a company is liquidated, there are no financial statements or audits, he said.

“As you know, there are over 80 companies in which the government owns shares, including minority share holding enterprises. While we don’t have adequate legal authority to appoint external auditors to the companies in which the state is a minority share-holder, the Audit Act allows us to do so with majority State-owned enterprises,” Niyaz explained.

It was the norm of the board of directors to appoint an external auditor, inhibiting the auditor’s work as they are bound to follow instructions from and report to the company’s board. However. starting in 2011 the Auditor General’s Office (AGO) has begun appointing external auditors to SOEs, thereby giving auditors more protection and independence.

The AGO will have auditors at all SOE’s except for Island Aviation for the 2013 accounts, Niyaz said.

Annual audits

The Company Act mandates audits be conducted annually, however there is no way to see how many SOEs are faring as they do not even produce financial statements, Niyaz said.

“Many of the companies which have been formed recently are in this very poor state of financial record keeping,” he continued. Even while some of these companies are now to be liquidated, there is no record of financial statements, nor has there been any audits. This is state resources we are speaking of. The people have a right to know what is being done with this money. Usually, public listed companies get more attention as they sell shares to people. How we see it, though, is that every citizen has ownership of state enterprises, and thereby public interest is much higher in such companies,” he said.

SOE’s must be far more transparent and accountable than listed companies, Niyaz stressed

The AGO has now commenced work on preparing a report documenting the status of all SOEs, he added.

“The public is entitled to get the basic information as to how much the state makes from an enterprise it owns, whether the enterprise is making profit or loss, whether it is accountable and transparent.”

Unexplained share-holding

Niyaz said there were many unexplained cases where the state owned minority shares, especially in the tourism industry.

“There is room to suspect that the legal provision within tourism laws of special provisions in the assignment of islands for tourism sector if the state owns some shares of the company or island is being abused,” Niyaz alleged.

Challenges in auditing state enterprises

Niyaz said that the Auditor General’s office has a practice of submitting a detailed work plan of all programs planned for the upcoming year with their budget proposal, and that the special audit of state-owned enterprises has not been included in the submitted proposal.

He said that his office will need to find means to fund the process in other ways, as plans for this were made after the budget proposal had already been submitted in late October.

Niyaz further noted the lack of cooperation extended to external auditors from the management and board of some state owned companies.

“Jobs for politicians”

The management of SOEs need to be strengthened, especially that of the board of directors, Niyaz said. SOEs must not be formed to create jobs for politicians, Niyaz said.

“As evident, if the top management of a company, enterprise or even an institution keeps being changed every now and then, it proves to be a strategical loss to that entity. Each of these management will have plans for its development, but if this keeps changing frequently, there will be no stability there. Therefore, there really needs to be a change in how the state runs the enterprises it holds shares in or owns,” he continued.

The state must end the appointment of individuals to management level jobs at SOEs on the basis of their political affiliation, Niyaz said.

“Even the board must consist of financially literate people who understand what it means to run a business, if the company’s governance is to be improved. I will give you an example of the level some current board members have, and this doesn’t change no matter which government is in place. A team from my office met with a company’s board members recently, after multiple attempts to meet them previously. For purposes of auditing, they asked the board for the financial statement. Members of the board then said at my staff members, ‘who do you think you are to come here and question us? We don’t have to give you any financial statements’ and then threatened to throw them out of a window. This is the calibre of some appointees to the boards of state enterprises. It is way beyond their authority to speak in that manner to a team of auditors who are their to fulfill legally stipulated duties,” Niyaz said.

Parliament initiative to run audits

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee Chair Abdulla Jabir told Minivan News today that the committee has rescheduled the initial debate on the matter from Sunday to Tuesday, for which both the Auditor General and Attorney General Mohamed Anil will be summoned.

According to Jabir, the objectives of conducting a special audit are to have all state companies operating under a single holding company and to find a way to liquidate companies that fail to make profit.

Attorney General Mohamed Anil was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Raajje TV’s report on Supreme Court not a national security threat: MBC

Opposition aligned broadcaster Raajje TV’s report criticizing the judiciary does not threaten national security, the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) has told Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz.

In October, the Supreme Court requested the MBC to investigate Raajje TV after it broadcast a report comparing the apex court to the the corrupt judges from Koranic city of Sodom.

The report, titled “Magey Report” (My report), especially highlighted the case of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed whose alleged appearance a sex-tape is currently under investigation. Ali Hameed is still a sitting judge on the Supreme Court bench.

“While you have mentioned in the letter referred here that “Magey Report” broadcasted on Rajje Tv in the evening of 19 October 2013 contained content that is a threat to national security, this commission did not notice any such content during our investigation”  read the MBC’s letter sent on Thursday.

However, the commission ruled that the content of the report violated several codes of the Broadcasting Code of Practice. The commission has ordered Raajje TV not to broadcast the report again without amending it and has asked the station to broadcast an apology message.

According to the commission, Raajje TV had used language and references against socially accepted standards, broadcast content that could insult or reduce the sanctity, honor and dignity of a person or persons, and broadcast the report in a manner that could violate rights of children.

MBC noted the Supreme Court had asked for the investigation to be completed within ten days even though the Broadcasting Act allows a 60 day investigation period.

The Supreme Court had also ordered Maldives Police Service to investigate the report, in response to which MPS conducted a criminal investigation and sent the case to Prosecutor General’s Office late November.

During the investigation, the Channel’s Deputy CEO Yaameen Rasheed and News Head Ibrahim ‘Asward’ Waheed were summoned by the Police. Raajje TV has chosen to remain silent

The Maldives Media Council and MBC expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s order describing it as “obstruction of press freedom”.

The MBC requested the Supreme Court to repeal the court order, however the request was denied. Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain threatened to take action against “those who spread false information about judges without respecting the sanctity of the court” saying contempt of court will not be allowed.

Serious concerns about the Maldives judiciary have been raised by various International institutions and experts, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul, International Commission of Jurists and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

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Voluntary repatriation program announced for undocumented workers

The Department of Immigration and Emigration has announced a special repatriation program offering leniency for undocumented migrant workers who wish to return to their home countries voluntarily on their own expenses.

The program is set to begin tomorrow (December 23) and will allow migrant workers to return to the Maldives within six months of departure. However, if workers are deported, they are not allowed to come back to the Maldives for ten years.

According to the Immigration department, the purpose of the new program is to register and regulate undocumented migrant workers.

The likelihood of repatriated workers returning to the Maldives to work illegally will be slim due to increased monitoring, Deputy CEO of Immigration Abdulla Munaz told local newspaper Haveeru

Munaz said that, even if a thousand workers are sent off each month, it would take the government 35 months to send off all undocumented workers.

While there is no  official data available on undocumented migrant workers, estimates have put it as high as 44,000.

The current program’s target is to repatriate 5,000 – 10,000 workers.

Registration will take place from 23 – 31 December 2013 and 5- 6 January 2014, on all working days between 0900hrs – 1700 hrs at Dharumavantha School, Male’. Workers are to be sent home within two days of registration.

On December 5, Immigration Controller Hassan Ali announced that the institution’s biggest focus in the first 100 days of Yameen’s government would be to address the issue of illegal immigrants.

The Maldives has been on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for four consecutive years. The US says the Maldives is a destination country for human trafficking, including sex trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage.

The Immigration department’s 100 day plan includes offering illegal immigrants a chance to change employees, and increasing the number of illegal immigrants who will be deported in 2014.

The immigration controller also revealed plans to re-register undocumented workers, establish an online system of obtaining work visas from Kulhudhuhfushi Island in northern Maldives and forming a single office to deal with all work related to migrant workers.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has previously expressed concern over a mass repatriation program this year. The commission said the state should provide such workers with their due wages and compensation before sending them off.

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Maldives hosts 7th SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians Conference

The Maldives is hosting the 7th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians (ASSP) at Bandos Island Resort and Spa.

President Abdulla Yameen inaugurated the three-day conference yesterday evening, and reiterated the Maldives’ commitment to furthering regional cooperation.

Calling on SAARC to be more relevant and responsive, Yameen said: “To keep abreast with the expectations of our peoples, we need to increase the relevance of SAARC, both as a tool for multilateral cooperation among our Member States, as well as in global politics and in international trade.”

Speakers from Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the secretary of Afghanistan’s parliament are in the Maldives for the conference.

Parliamentary delegations of Bangladesh and Nepal were unable to attend as Nepal had only held new parliamentary elections in November while Bangladesh’s parliament has been dissolved with new general elections set for January.

According to the people’s Majlis, the themes -“Strengthening democracy through institution building” and “Democracy and Inclusive Development – achieving SAARC  MDGs” – will be discussed at the conference.

The ASSP was established in 1992, with the aim of exchanging ideas and information on parliamentary procedures and information among parliaments and to strengthen South Asia as a stable and independent region.

The association’s work stagnated in the late 90’s due to political turmoil in the region, and was revived recently on the initiative of India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the People’s Majlis secretariat have said.

Welcoming the delegations, Maldives Speaker Abdulla Shahid noted all South Asian countries are now led by civilian governments.

Shahid noted the current parliament in the Maldives is the first fully elected parliament, but MPs have faced and overcome “almost every conceivable constitutional challenge.”

Further, the rights guaranteed to the parliament had constantly been tested by the executive and legislative branches of government.

Meanwhile, Kumar stressed the importance of parliaments and parliamentarians as democracy advances in the region and said SAARC parliaments can learn a great deal from each other’s parliamentary experiences.

Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said South Asia consists of one-fourth of the world’s population, but continues to be the largest concentration of impoverished people.

South Asia is currently at a crossroads, of breaking with its past and possibly becoming the second largest economic powerhouse after China and East Asia, Sadiq said.

Meanwhile, female parliamentarians and the secretaries general of SAARC parliaments met on Saturday morning to discuss the opportunities and challenges for women’s political participation in South Asia and the methods to ensure a cost effective secretariat respectively.

The Women’s Committee has pledged affirmative action to increase women’s political participation whilst the secretaries generals proposed amending the charter of ASSP to constitute a Young Parliamentarians forum.

The Association’s General Assembly is to take place at Bandos Island Resort and Spa today and tomorrow (December 22 and 23).

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EC to seek AG advice on following Supreme Court guidelines

The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to seek advice from the Attorney General on whether the commission must follow the Supreme Court’s 16 point electoral guideline in the upcoming local council and parliamentary elections.

The Supreme Court had issued the guidelines in October in its verdict annulling the first round of presidential polls held on September 7. EC President Fuwad Thowfeek has previously slammed the guidelines as “restrictions”

EC member Ali Mohamed Manik told local media the commission is abiding by the Supreme Court’s guidelines in preparations for the upcoming elections. However, the EC may face the same challenges if the commission were to follow the Supreme Court’s requirements, Manik said.

The guidelines effectively give candidates veto power over polls as they state the EC must obtain the signature of all candidates on the voter registry and mandates the commission ensure that reports on the voting process are compiled in the presence of candidates’ representatives.

The EC has previously said obtaining the signatures of the 4000 candidates contesting local council elections will be “impossible.”

“While some of the points in the guideline state it applies to all elections, we can see that the complete guideline is actually intended for presidential elections when we look at it in its entirety. Most of what is in the full verdict is also about the presidential election. Furthermore, it will be very difficult to follow some of the points in it in other elections,” Manik said.

The Supreme Court’s requirements caused major delays in this year’s presidential elections with three contestants. The parliamentary election will have hundreds of contestants for the 85 constituencies, while the local council election will have over 4000 of contestants running for 1118 seats in island, atoll and city councils in 20 atolls.

LGA and MMA call to merge elections

The Local Government Authority (LGA) – chaired by Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim – has on Thursday announced it will work with the government to organize simultaneous polls for the local council and parliament.

LGA has also requested the government to include the proposal in the planned amendments to the Decentralisation Act.

“When all the elections are held together, it will decrease the economical cost caused by holding separate elections, while also lessening the tearing up of the national social fabric, which happens as a result of elections”, a statement from the LGA reads, as reported by local media Haveeru.

The statement further said that the funds spent on councils cannot be used productively unless the councils are developed and strengthened. The authority said the proposed amendments to the Decentralisation Act  will assist in cutting costs.

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has meanwhile recommended combining presidential, parliamentary and local council elections in order to reduce state expenditure and improve governance.

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Albino turtle stolen from Sri Lanka was to be used for “black magic on a Maldivian politician”

A Sri Lankan residing in Maldives offered more than US$ 26,000 to buy an albino turtle to use it in a black magic ritual on a Maldivian politician, popular Sri Lankan singer Amal Perera has told Sri Lankan Police.

The rare albino turtle had disappeared from the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Sanctuary on December 18. According to Sri Lankan media, the police questioned Perera for three hours after the sanctuary’s owner alleged Perera’s involvement in the turtle’s disappearance.

‘Ceylon Today‘ quotes Perera as saying: “I went to the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Sanctuary in July with a person called ‘Supun’ who had come to the country representing a Maldivian national.”

Amal denied any involvement in the turtle’s disappearance and said there was no exchange of money during the July visit.

Police are now looking for Supun who is believed to be in Sri Lanka at present. Sri Lankan Wildlife Resources Conservation Minister Vijith Vijithamuni Soyza told media last week that he believed the turtle could have been smuggled into the Maldives.

The belief and use of traditional “Fanditha” magic for various purposes – ranging from courting and divorce to sports and politics – is fairly common in the Maldivian culture. A surge in suspected use of Black magic for political reasons was witnessed  following the controversial power transfer in February 2011 and in the run up to presidential elections.

Maldives Police Service have investigated a number of cases including the case of a Black magic doll at a polling station and a cursed coconut in September 2013.

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National debt set to rise to MVR92,196 per head warns MMA

The Maldives Monetary Authority – the country’s central bank and banking regulator – has published its professional opinion on the 2014 budget, painting a dark outlook and proposing urgent measures to prevent the economy from plunging further into debt.

The document was prepared upon an official request from the People’s Majlis, which is set to consider the spending plans when they emerge from committee on Saturday (December 21).

In the document, the MMA warned that the national debt is estimated to rise from MVR27.7 billion in 2013 to MVR31.5 billion in 2014 – equating to MVR92,196 per head.

Forecast GDP growth rate for 2014 is 4.5% – lower than the average of past ten years.

Inflation can be sustained at 4%, but this will depend on changes in the world market, stated the authority

Despite pledges to reduce state expenditure, the government returned a record MVR17.5 billion budget for consideration by the Majlis this month.

Subsequent recommendations in committee have seen the likely figure to rise to MVR18 billion.

Reducing government expenditure

Rising government expenditure was cited as the biggest challenge for the country right now. The agency advised the government to reduce recurrent expenditure to MVR10.2billion from its current level or MVR12billion, offering the following recommendations to do so:

  • Ensuring government subsidies are carefully targeted to the rightful persons.
  • Downsizing the state apparatus to one that’s appropriate for the Maldives’ size and income – including downsizing of parliament, councils, and independent institutions.
  • Finding ways of reducing recurrent expenditure and improving governance – suggesting the combination of local, parliamentary, and presidential elections was suggested.
  • Stop spending on government-run companies from the budget,  or dissolve such companies.
  • Don t proceed with projects (e.g. in contractor finance basis) unless funds have been secured or guaranteed.
  • Reduce debt, turn existing short-term debts in to long-term ones – for instance, by selling long-term foreign bonds at a small interest rate rather than depending on the domestic market for financing debt.
  • Prepare to implement the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2014.

Finding better ways of financing the deficit

The document stated that the government had been financing the budget deficit mainly by taking short-term loans, selling treasury bills and treasury bonds, and by the MMA itself printing money. Instead of managing this deficit through a market mechanism, the government has resorted to dealing with it mainly through printing cash.

Overdrawing from the state’s Public Bank Account (PBA) to accommodate government spending has significantly increased the flow of the rufiyaa in the economy. The authority stated that this has reduced the foreign exchange reserves to dangerous levels – just two months of imports by the end of October 2013.

It was also noted that the increased flow makes it difficult to stabilise the foreign exchange rate.

According to the authority the PBA overdraft facility was misused by the government, using it to finance long term budget deficit even though it was intended to manage cash flow within a short period of time (a few weeks).

The amount overdrawn from PBA started increasing in October 2012 and reached MVR2.5 billion by 9 December 2013.

The MMA advised the state to pay all due treasury bills, treasury bonds and PBA overdrawing debts to the authority, whilst also noting that the MVR945 million required to pay for this had not been included in the proposed budget.

New revenue raising measures and legal changes

One of the key points highlighted throughout the document was the importance of implementing the new revenue raising measures – most of which is hoped to come from advance payments from resort lease extensions – which account for 23% of the total revenue in the budget.

If these measures are not implemented, the budget cannot cater for the recurrent expenditure and the estimated budget deficit for 2014 will increase from MVR886.6 million to 4.4 billion (11% of GDP), the MMA warned.

The MMA requested the state to proceed with amending the laws necessary for implementing new revenue increasing measures as soon as possible, and asked to find ways to generate an income from various industries instead of depending only on tourism for revenue.

Another notable recommendation was the reduction of the number of foreigners working in the country in order to create a more favorable balance of payments situation.

Read the full document (dhivehi) here.

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Opposition MP files four misconduct cases against Judge Abdulla Mohamed

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor has filed four cases of judicial-misconduct against the former Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The MDP in a statement (dhivehi) published on its official website claimed that the four cases filed against the judge had been based upon his misconduct during Hamid’s recent criminal trial.

Last October, Judge Abdulla Mohamed handed Hamid a six-month imprisonment sentence for his failure to comply with court summons in a case in which he faced charges of refusing to cooperate with the police.

However, Hamid’s conviction was quashed on appeal by the High Court, which held that the Criminal Court had not followed the established procedures in attempting to summon the MP to the court.

The High Court, in overturning the case, also reiterated that the Parliamentary Privileges Act at the time of Criminal Court’s issuance of the guilty verdict did not allow an MP to be summoned to court while parliament was in session.

In late November, the Supreme Court annulled several articles of the Privileges Act, including the clause that required all MPs – regardless of criminal conviction – to be present during votes. The Supreme Court’s move had prompted Hamid’s relocation from house arrest to Maafushi jail.

In the misconduct cases filed at the JSC – the state’s judicial watchdog responsible for disciplining judges – the Henveiru-South constituency MP accused Abdulla Mohamed of displaying outright rudeness towards him, stereotyping him as a criminal, publicly defaming him, and attempting to “politically” destroy him.

The MDP’s statement meanwhile added that Hamid intends to file more cases concerning the judges alleged misdemeanors,  including the fact that he had refused to provide a copy of the arrest warrant issued against Hamid.

Ghafoor was quoted in the statement claiming that he had only been able to receive the arrest warrant three day after the expiry of the warrant.

He also accused of the Judge of assisting the police to publicly broadcast his photograph in the media and implying him as a hard-lined criminal on the loose.

Controversies surrounding Judge Abdulla Mohamed

Shortly after the case, the JSC announced the transfer of Judge Abdulla from his position as Chief Judge of Criminal Court to the Chief Judge of the Drug Court as part of the commission’s shuffling of nine superior court judges.

In January 2012 Judge Abdulla was taken into military detention during the final days of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration after then-Home Minister Hassan Afeef had accused him of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”.

Nasheed’s administration listed 14 cases of judicial misconduct concerning the judge that included obstruction of police duty – including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations, disregarding precedents set forth by higher courts, deliberately holding up cases involving then-opposition figures, and barring media from corruption trials.

He was also accused by the Nasheed government of releasing of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing” and maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The controversial judge was also thrust into the media limelight after he released a murder suspect “in the name of holding the health minister accountable”. The suspect later went on to kill a witness to the case.

The JSC earlier in November 2011 found Judge Abdulla guilty of violating the Judges Code of Ethics by making a politically biased statement in an interview he gave to private broadcaster DhiTV.

However, the JSC’s attempt to take action against him ended in vain after the Civil Court overruled the decision – later supported by the High Court.

Minivan News was unable to get a confirmation from the JSC regarding Hamid’s case – Secretary General Abu Bakuru was not responding to calls at time of press.

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Committee recommends increasing 2014 budget to MVR18 billion

The People’s Majlis Budget Committee has recommended raising the proposed 2014 state budget from MVR17.5 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) to MVR18 billion (US$1.2 billion) despite concerns over prospective revenue raising measures.

The latest recommendations will have to pass on the Majlis floor, with the final report being sent to People’s Majlis Speaker Abdulla Shahid on December 21.

President Abdulla Yameen proposed a record MVR17.5 billion budget shortly after assuming power. The budget has a projected deficit of 2.2 percent, with over MVR3 billion (US$ 224 million) is to set to come from new revenue raising measures that require amendments to legislation.

These measures include hiking Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) from 8 to 12 percent, revising import duties, a continuation of the tourism bed tax, raising airport departure charge for foreign passengers from US$18 to US$25, leasing 12 islands for resort development, introducing GST for telecommunication services, and charging resort operators in advance for resort lease extensions.

The Ministry of Finance had proposed similar revenue raising measures the 2013 budget but was ultimately unable to obtain the expected revenue after the parliament rejected several measures – including increasing airport departure fees.

The MVR600 million (US$39 million) expansion is mainly to fund tourism promotion, Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIP), and an increase to the budgets for the state’s independent institutions.

The Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Fazeel Najeeb has expressed concern that the central bank may have to print money if expected revenue is not realised.

Najeeb told the People’s Majlis Budget Committee on Saturday (December 14) the government must not proceed with new development projects unless and until the new revenue is assured.

“If not, ultimately the government will come to the MMA to find the cash to proceed with those projects. And then again we have more rufiyaa in the economy to chase after the few dollars,” Najeeb said.

Several independent institutions including the Employment Tribunal, Judicial Services Commission (JSC), Department of Judicial Administration, Election Commission, Human Rights Commission, Anti- Corruption Commission, and the Prosecutor General had complained about the proposed budget cuts last week.

According to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), the institution had asked for MVR73 million (US$4.7 million), but the Finance Ministry had reduced the figure to MVR 45 million (US$ 29 million).

Speaking at the Budget Committee meeting last week, the Commissioner General of Taxation Yazeed Mohamed said financial constraints had affected MIRA’s ability to collect taxes.

MIRA had set its own goal to collect MVR10 billion (US$648 million) in taxes this year, but would only able to collect approximately MVR 8.4 billion (US$ 545 million), Yazeed said.

While the Ministry of Finance estimates MVR10 billion (US$648 million) can be raised in taxes for 2014, MIRA believes it can collect over MVR11 billion (US$ 713 million) if the institution is granted adequate financial resources, Yazeed added.

Budget reductions will also affect MIRA’s ability to train employees, he said.

Meanwhile, the Elections Commission said the allocated MVR57 million (US$3.7 million) is not enough for the commission to hold the constitutionally mandated local council and parliamentary elections. The commission noted it still had over MVR29 million (US$1.9 million) in unpaid bills from the repeatedly re-scheduled presidential elections.

Only the Civil Service Commission expressed satisfaction with its allocated budget. The commission had asked for MVR28 million (US$ 1.8 million), before the Finance Ministry reduced the amount to MVR25.7 million (US$1.7 million).

Meanwhile, the World Bank has said that measures used by the government to finance the deficit – such as monetisation, the accumulation of unpaid bills, and the rise of short term debt through the sale of T-bills – posed “macro-risks” to the economy.

President Yameen has expressed concern over “extremely high” state expenditure and pledged to make cuts, though he has as yet only managed to make modest cuts such as halving the presidential salary and marginally reducing the salaries of state and deputy ministers.

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