The Parliament today approved a budget of MVR 114 million for the Auditor General’s Office for the upcoming year. The budget was passed by a unanimous vote of 75 members present at the sitting.
Initially, the Audit Office had submitted a proposed budget of MVR 99.5 million for approval, which included MVR 80.4 million for recurrent expenses and MVR 19 million for the construction of a new office building in Hulhumale. However, in a rare move, the Parliament increased the proposed budget by MVR 14.5 million, bringing the total to MVR 114 million. In recent years, the Parliament rejected numerous budget increase requests from independent institutions.
The Audit Office’s budget for next year has been increased primarily for planned salary hikes for Audit Office employees and the allocation of funds for the construction of the new Hulhumale’ office building. While the Audit Office sought the Finance Ministry’s recommendation on increasing salaries next year, the Finance Ministry did not issue such a recommendation. Despite this, the Public Finance Committee, which reviewed the budget, decided to proceed with the salary adjustments, disregarding the Finance Ministry’s stance. It also accepted the Finance Ministry’s recommendation to increase the allocation for the office building construction from MVR 19 million to MVR 34 million.
In comparison, the Auditor General’s Office’s budget for this year is MVR 112.27 million– MVR 61 million for recurrent expenditures and MVR 32.4 million for Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).
The Auditor General’s Office’s budget has to be approved before the state budget.
