Budget falls short of development pledges: DRP
01 Dec 2009, 10:14 PM
The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has expressed regret over the proposed 2010 mid-term budget, which it argues will fail to deliver on the development pledges of the incumbent government.
The largest opposition party said the budget had a deficit of Rf4.7 billion (US$366 million), noting that while Rf7.2 billion (US$560 million) is expected in revenue, this was accounted for 60 per cent of the budget.
“It is further doubtful that the revenue goals could be reached since a large part of the income rests upon taxes to be levied under laws that would be made in the future,” a statement from the party said.
Addressing MPs last week, Finance Minister Ali Hashim said the government had proposed a number of measures to generate around US$354 million to plug the deficit. These included foreign aid, foreign loan assistance, privatisation of government companies and the sale of treasury bills through the Maldives Monetary Authority.
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