Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has canceled two official visits due to the government's measures to minimize government expenditure.
Nasheed announced that the two trips were canceled while opening Tuesday's Parliament session. Nasheed said the Finance Ministry sent a circular to state agencies to implement the measures taken by the government to reduce expenditure. In this regard, while he has received invitations to visit the Commonwealth and Uzbekistan, he has decided to cancel the two trips to reduce costs, said Nasheed.
"I intend to cancel these two trips. The circular instructed not to spend more than MVR 5,000. I can only travel to Colombo [with this amount],' said Nasheed.
A circular signed by Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer was sent to government offices and agencies, stating that measures should be taken to reduce expenditure due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. One of the reasons for the increase in government spending is the increase in oil prices, which has led to major changes in the prices of goods and services and increased government spending, the circular read.
