Finance Minister highlights challenges of underfunded projects, pledges prioritized implementation

Finance Minister Moosa Zameer today said that many projects face stalled progress due to being allocated small amounts in the state budget.

During the budget debate in Parliament on Monday, Minister Zameer said that projects do not progress when they are listed with insufficient funding.

“When you initiate projects with insufficient funding, many of them end up stuck in the pipeline,” Zameer said.

The minister identified a lack of budget and cash flow as hurdles to project completion. He pointed out that when multiple projects are contracted to the same company, financing the projects becomes more challenging.

“For instance, years ago, MTCC was being awarded projects left and right to the point that the company had about [projects valued at] MVR 18 billion in its pipeline, without being able to finance it,” he said.

To address these issues, Minister Zameer assured that starting next year, projects will be executed in line with the President’s priority list, with adequate funding arranged beforehand.

“This time, we have prioritized the projects and we have allocated the proprietary funds to carry out the projects within the President’s priority list. I can assure you that no island will be excluded from the list,” he said.

The minister also assured that announcements for the prioritized projects will follow as soon as the necessary budget is secured.