MP Nazim highlights decentralisation as budgetary concern on back of IMF findings
05 Mar 2011, 4:37 PM
Neil Merrett
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week released its latest update on the Maldives’ finances, prominent opposition MPs have criticised the government’s budget strategy in areas such as decentralisation, despite conceding the need for greater political cooperation from rival parties.
Ahmed Nazim, MP for the People’s Alliance (PA) party and a member of the Majlis’ Public Finance Committee, told Minivan News that he believed current government policy was ultimately stifling economic development, claiming administrative costs within the civil service remained a notable problem.
“We have small percentage [of funds] to invest in the economy. We cannot move finances to a higher level though as the government doesn’t have the right policies to do this,” he claimed. “For instance, we need to reduce the number of [inhabited] islands by linking them and cutting the overall number of cost centres required for decentralisation.”
The comments were made as the IMF claimed that the Maldives economy was currently “unsustainable” even after cuts made to the annual 2011 budget, as it concluded its Article IV consultation.
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