2 Sep 2005

Marshall Islands government unveils largest-ever budget

10:13 am on 2 September 2005

The Marshall Islands parliament has launched public hearings on its 146 point 3 million US dollar budget for fiscal year 2006 - the largest budget in the nation's 26-year history.

Two thirds of the budget is funded by United States government grants, trust fund contributions and rental payments for use of the Kwajalein missile testing range.

Taiwan, with which the Marshall Islands has had diplomatic ties since 1998, is injecting an additional $10 million.

In line with a renewed focus on education, just over 42 million or nearly 30 percent of the total budget is devoted to school-related programmes.

The second largest allocation is almost 18 million dollars for health services.