Parliament of Maldives has passed to slash 20% of the salaries of parliamentarians. The step was taken by the parliament to compensate for projected economic issues as a fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion to slash the salaries of parliamentarians was submitted by the main ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), on March 16. The motion was discussed in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance. The motion was passed unanimously with the votes of 74 parliamentarians.
Majority Leader of Parliament Ali Azim said the motion was submitted after extensive discussions and referring to the global economic crisis. If 20% was cut from the salaries of parliamentarians, USD 45,425 will be saved by the state each month. There are 87 parliamentarians and the monthly basic salary of each member is USD 2,757.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer requested the parliament to cut down its expenses by USD 1.25 million every month. The government of Maldives has also announced plans to slash the salaries of all political appointees by 20%.