The Maldives recorded a sharp rise in government income during the first months of 2026, driven largely by stronger receipts from the tax levied on tourism goods and services, the Ministry of Finance and State-Owned Enterprises has said.
According to the ministry’s latest Weekly Fiscal Developments report, total revenue and grants collected through 4 June 2026 reached 19.1 billion rufiyaa. That figure marks an increase of 1.8 billion rufiyaa, or 10.1 percent, over the 17.3 billion rufiyaa collected during the same period last year. The ministry pointed to the gain as evidence that income from the country’s core economic activities continues to expand without interruption.
Taxes accounted for the largest share of the increase. Tax revenue rose to 14.8 billion rufiyaa by 4 June 2026, up from 13.2 billion rufiyaa during the same stretch of 2025, a gain of 12.4 percent. Taxes made up 78 percent of all revenue the state collected over the period.
The Tourism Goods and Services Tax was the principal source of that growth. Collections under the tax climbed to 6 billion rufiyaa this year, compared with 5 billion rufiyaa in the same period of 2025, an increase of 7.6 percent. Revenue from the general Goods and Services Tax also rose, reaching 2.5 billion rufiyaa from 2.2 billion rufiyaa a year earlier.
State spending grew alongside revenue. Combined recurrent and capital expenditure totalled 19.2 billion rufiyaa through 4 June, 17.6 percent higher than the figure recorded a year earlier. Infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and airports continued to absorb a significant portion of the budget, with 818.6 million rufiyaa spent on such works so far this year.
Subsidy costs rose notably as well. Higher global oil prices, tied to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, pushed subsidy spending to 2.3 billion rufiyaa for the period, nearly double the 1.3 billion rufiyaa recorded during the same months of 2025.
The figures point to strengthening public finances supported by tourism earnings. They also reflect the higher cost of shielding residents from price increases on essential services amid the Middle East conflict, even as the state maintains uninterrupted investment in infrastructure and key public services.
