Finance Minister: Government will not hire new staff in 2015

Minister of Finance Abdulla Jihad has said that the government will not hire any new employees in 2015.

Speaking at a meeting of the Parliament Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday night, Jihad said that the government had earlier planned to hire 5,000 new staff in 2015, but President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has decided to make 2015 an “employment freeze” year.

He said that unless faced with exceptional circumstances, the government will not hire new staff in 2015.

Komandoo MP Ahmed Nashid (ADK Nashid) inquired how the government plans to create 95,000 new jobs without hiring new staff, as mentioned in the election campaign of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). The Finance Minister replied that the party had promised to create 95,000 new jobs in the private sector, and not in the government.

The present government has taken many steps to decrease expenditure, including halting several public sector investment program (PSIP) projects and cutting recurrent costs.