President of Malawi forbids himself from travelling abroad over bad economy

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has stopped all government officials and himself from traveling outside the country to save money.

Malawi’s money lost a lot of value, so they borrowed money from the IMF to help their economy.

Mr Chakwera has told all ministers who are in other countries to come back home.

Senior government officials will now receive half the amount of money for fuel that they used to get.

Malawi’s economy has been going through tough times, with not enough petrol and diesel, and prices for things going up a lot.

On TV, Mr. Chakwera said the rules will stay until March 2024.

Some steps to save money were introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, but they didn’t have much impact because they weren’t strictly enforced.

To help with the high cost of living, the president wants the finance minister to plan for a fair pay raise for all government workers in the next budget review.

He has decided to reduce the amount of income tax that people have to pay in the next budget. This will help workers who are earning less money.

Experts believe that lowering the value of the country’s money may have been necessary to get a loan from the IMF.

Some people are worried that if the currency loses value, prices will go up and make the financial situation in Malawi even worse than it was ten years ago.

Officials say that the bad economy is because of things outside of the country, like a really bad storm and the war in Ukraine.