Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has suspended all international travel involving government officials - including himself and cabinet ministers - for the rest of the budget year as part of austerity measures.
In a televised address on Wednesday night, Chakwera ordered all ministers currently abroad to return home and outlined measures to reduce local travel by state officials.
The measures will run until the end of the financial year in March 2024.
“Any travel deemed absolutely necessary by anyone during that period must be submitted to my office for my personal authorisation,” he said.
He added: “I order that all fuel entitlements for cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, directors and all members of senior management of Public Institutions should be cut in half with immediate effect.”
The southern African country is grappling with an economic crisis that has resulted in fuel shortages, increased food prices and a scarcity of foreign exchange.
Devaluing Kwacha
Last week the central bank announced it was devaluing the local kwacha currency's exchange rate to the dollar by about 30%.
It was the second time the southern African country had significantly devalued its currency, after doing so first in May 2022 to prop up dwindling foreign currency reserves pressured by rising commodity prices and declining revenue from tobacco exports.
Chakwera defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika in a presidential runoff in June 2020 in what was viewed as a triumph for democracy.
But life has become harder in recent years as the country faces a high cost of living that the government blames on the effects of Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
