Only 15.7 percent of student loan budget disbursed in first seven months

In the first seven months of this year, only 15.7 percent of the state budget allocated for the student loan scheme has been disbursed, according to the Finance Ministry.

The ministry’s statistics show that MVR 776.6 million has been allocated for the student loan scheme in this year’s budget, but more than half of it remains unused. As of August 6, MVR 121.8 million has been released under the scheme.

Expenditure on the student loan scheme has declined sharply compared to the same period last year. As of August 6 last year, the scheme had disbursed MVR 316 million, indicating a 61.5 percent drop in spending this year.

Overall government expenditure, however, has increased. Recurrent spending, including salaries and allowances, and capital expenditure on development projects have both risen. Total expenditure on these two components reached MVR 27.3 billion this year, up from MVR 23 billion in the same period last year.

The number of Maldivian students pursuing higher education continues to grow annually. Last year, however, saw irregular payments for students on government loans and scholarships. Among the measures taken to resolve the issue is an increase in student stipends.

According to data released by the Higher Education Ministry in January, MVR 1.25 billion has been disbursed as student loans and MVR 471.09 million as scholarship payments over the past two years.