Balanced News: Malawi: President suspends foreign flights for gov’t officials among austerity measures

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has announced a series of measures to address the country’s economic distress, including a complete halt on international travel for all public officials. The move follows a significant devaluation of the Malawian kwacha by the Reserve Bank of Malawi. The president stated that he would lead by example and cancel all his international trips, and all public-funded international trips for public officers are frozen until March. Other measures include cutting fuel entitlements for government officials, reviewing income tax rates, and providing a reasonable wage increase for civil servants. The devaluation may have been a condition for securing an IMF credit facility.