Cabinet has decided to place all government-owned companies under a single limited liability holding company, following discussion off a paper submitted by the Finance Ministry.
The government has transferred the assets of many formerly state-run institutions, such as Television Maldives (TVM) into 100 percent government owned corporations. Of the 46 state-owned companies, 33 percent have been transformed into corporations.
The government claims such corporations can run state assets more efficiently in a bid to make the country’s administration leaner. Opponents argue the practice reduces accountability as employees of corporations – government owned or otherwise – are not subject to the oversight of the Civil Servants Commission (CSC).
Cabinet also tasked the Ministry of Housing and Environment to design a project to manage a national electricity grid, in an effort to reduce the cost of electricity through economies of scale and networking islands with cabling, rather than having a generators on every island.