Committee decides pay cuts not possible without changing law

The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee decided on Tuesday to counsel President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu that the decision he made to cut the salaries of top state officials cannot be implemented at this time.

President Muizzu announced the decision to cut the salaries of state officials including his own, as well as that of parliamentarians, political appointees, and employees of government companies back in October last year.

He decided to:

• Cut his own salary by 50 percent
• Cut the salaries of political appointees by 10 percent
• Cut the salaries of heads of independent institutions by 10 percent
• Cut the salaries of top judicial officials by 10 percent
• Cut the salaries of parliamentarians by 10 percent
• Cap the salaries of employees of state-owned enterprises at MVR 90,000

President Muizzu’s administration has asked the Parliament to approve the changes.

During a meeting on Tuesday, the Public Accounts Committee decided to counsel the administration that the changes cannot be implemented based on existing laws.

The proposal to counsel the administration as such was presented by Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh and seconded by Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa. It passed with the unanimous consensus of the committee members present.

The committee therefore decided to recommend to the administration to seek parliamentary approval after making necessary changes to the law.

The decision to implement pay cuts had followed repeated urgings to the Maldives by international financial institutions to implement fiscal reforms. They continue to express concern over the delay in the rollout of promised fiscal reforms.