The merger of Regional Airports Company Limited (RACL) with Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) is saving the state approximately MVR 10 million every month, Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Hassan Zareer has said.
Zareer disclosed the figure while responding to questions from lawmakers in Parliament on Tuesday, as he outlined the government’s ongoing efforts to restructure state-owned enterprises and reduce expenditure associated with loss-making companies.
According to the Minister, the MVR 10 million monthly saving represents funds that previously had to be allocated from the state budget to cover RACL’s operational expenses and employee salaries.
RACL was formally merged with MACL following an agreement signed on May 28, 2025, as part of the administration’s wider programme to consolidate state-owned companies and improve their financial sustainability.
The merger brought regional airport operations previously managed by RACL under MACL, the state-owned company responsible for operating Velana International Airport.
Zareer said work is now underway with MACL to improve the financial position of regional airports and move them towards becoming self-sustaining operations capable of covering expenses through revenue generated from their own activities.
The government has placed greater emphasis on reforming state-owned enterprises as it seeks to improve efficiency across the sector and reduce the amount of budgetary support required by companies that consistently operate at a loss.
During Tuesday’s parliamentary session, Zareer also provided details on other companies that have been dissolved or are currently undergoing liquidation.
Among them is Maldives Sports Corporation, which the government dissolved after determining that the company had not achieved the objectives for which it was established.
The company’s 12 employees were subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Sports.
The government has also moved to dissolve Maldives Integrated Tourism Development Corporation (MITDC), with a liquidator appointed to carry out the process. According to Zareer, MITDC employed 10 people when the decision to wind up the company was finalised.
The Finance Minister also addressed questions surrounding the creation of new state-owned companies and the number of employees working at those entities.
Five newly established state companies currently have a combined workforce of 889 employees, he said.
However, Zareer clarified that only 156 of those employees were recruited as new hires.
The remaining 733 employees were transferred from State Trading Organisation (STO) following the establishment of the State Pharmaceutical and Medical Supply Corporation and the transfer of the state’s medical supply operations to the new company.
The clarification comes amid continued public attention on the size and financial performance of the country’s state-owned enterprise sector, which includes companies operating across aviation, utilities, transport, healthcare, construction and other key industries.
The government has been pursuing a broader restructuring programme that includes merging companies with overlapping functions, dissolving entities considered unnecessary and seeking to improve the commercial viability of companies that have historically depended on state funding.
In the aviation sector, the consolidation of RACL with MACL represents one of the more significant changes under that programme, bringing the management of regional airport operations under the country’s main airport operator.
With the merger now saving an estimated MVR 10 million each month, the government is focusing on improving revenue generation at regional airports with the longer-term aim of reducing their reliance on direct budget support.
