For the first time, a policy has been formulated to provide financial assistance from the state to privately-owned media outlets registered and operating in the Maldives. This policy was developed as part of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s efforts to fulfill his presidential pledge to allocate a percentage of the state budget to advance media and journalism by providing financial support to media organizations. The policy regarding financial assistance to media outlets has been published today in the Government Gazette.
After winning the presidential election, during the transition period, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu held a consultative meeting called “Media Horizon” with all media outlets in the Maldives. At this meeting, he sought opinions on how to proceed with media affairs and assured the media that he would work to find solutions to the challenges faced by media organizations. That evening, he announced that as part of the government’s plan to empower the media, a transparent and responsible policy would be formulated to allocate a percentage of the state budget for financial assistance to media outlets. The newly gazetted policy outlines all the principles and criteria for providing financial aid to privately-owned media registered and operating in the Maldives.
With this policy, as announced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, starting from this year, it has been decided to allocate funds from the state budget to provide financial assistance to privately-owned media registered and operating in the Maldives. The amount will be 0.1 (zero point one) percent of the estimated revenue in each year’s approved state budget, excluding grants, projected revenue from new measures proposed to increase income, and funds allocated for specific purposes. This opens up the opportunity, for the first time, for private media outlets to apply for financial assistance from the state budget through a transparent and responsible process.
