Auditor General Calls to Enforce Strict Caps on Civil Service Recruitment as Wage Bill Nears MVR 14.4 Billion

The Auditor General has sounded a sharp warning over the trajectory of government spending, urging authorities to enforce strict caps on civil service recruitment and curb state apparatus expansion before runaway recurrent costs compromise national economic stability.

The assessment was detailed in a professional review released by the Auditor General’s Office, following a formal request from the People’s Majlis for independent counsel on the proposed 2027 State Budget, which was tabled by the Minister of Finance on 29 October 2026.

advertisement

advertisement

According to the Auditor General’s report, state spending on public sector salaries, wages, and staff allowances is on course to reach an unprecedented MVR 14.42 billion by 2027. The report cautioned that without statutory ceilings and disciplined hiring controls, ballooning operational outlays risk suffocating vital investments in basic public services and capital infrastructure.

The report attributes this steep climb to two compounding factors. While structural pay adjustments carried out under the national pay harmonisation framework have pushed up baseline salaries across multiple state bodies, the overall headcount of public sector employees has expanded markedly in tandem. 

With employee remuneration already consuming the single largest portion of recurrent government expenditure, the Auditor General stressed that continuing along this path poses an acute risk to long-term fiscal viability.

The advisory comes against the backdrop of a widening fiscal shortfall outlined in the 2027 budget estimates. 

The government has put forward a total budget outlay of MVR 59.7 billion, with overall expenditure projected at MVR 52.6 billion, a 6.6 per cent increase compared to the revised estimates of the preceding year. 

Against projected revenues and foreign grants of MVR 43.1 billion, the state faces an MVR 18.9 billion gross financing requirement to bridge the gap and service maturing debt obligations.

The Auditor General underscored that if administrative expansion and payroll adjustments are left to inflate recurrent expenditure unchecked, the country’s reliance on costly deficit financing will deepen, leaving public finances increasingly exposed to external shocks. Disciplined workforce management and rigorous recruitment controls must now be enacted immediately to return public finances to a sustainable footing.