Africa-Press – Malawi. Officials from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) say President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s tough austerity measures, which included a freeze on his international trips, are bearing fruits.
Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda said the austerity measures, which will run up to the end of the financial year, will save K4.2 billion of government money.
OPC spokesperson Robert Kalindiza said the austerity measures, which President Chakwera announced last month, have saved money that could help procure fertilizer, food, and drugs for citizens.
Kalindiza said that the nation benefits when Chakwera travels abroad as, apart from bilateral engagements, he attracts development and investment support for the country. With his announcement in November, Chakwera cancelled three trips slated from November to March next year, according to Kalindiza.
During the national address last week, among others President Chakwera directed that the fuel allocation to all top government officials should be cut by 50 percent as one way of cost cutting measures and that international trips have to be curtailed.
Apart from placing a travel ban on government officials including himself until March, President Chakwera also announced a number of stringent economic measures which are expected to rake the expected dividends.
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