As of now, MVR 634 million has been issued as council grants this year, according to Finance Ministry statistics.
Data publicized by the Finance Ministry shows that this is a 15 percent year-on-year increase compared to 2025, when the figure stood at MVR 537 million.
This year's budget has an allocation of MVR 2.5 billion as council grants. Last year, MVR 2.1 billion was budgeted as block grants for councils, but an additional MVR 8 million was spent on the cause. The year before, MVR 2.2 billion was issued as block grant to councils.
In this, the highest allocations go towards city councils, with Male' City Council on the top of the list.
Councils have been receiving block grants from the central government since changes were brought to how councils receive budgets in 2020. The amount of the grants are decided based on State revenue.
