The Parliamentary Finance Committee on Tuesday voted to advise the government to amend the relevant laws in order to enforce the proposed pay cut for officials of independent institutions.
The proposal specifies that the salary reductions for officials within independent institutions, the judiciary, and Parliament members will be implemented for a period of two years.
This proposal is part of the administration's economic reform and austerity measures aimed at reducing public expenditure, budget deficits, and national debt.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu outlined that the two-year austerity plan includes a 10% reduction in the basic salaries of senior officials within independent institutions who currently earn over USD 778.34 per month.
According to the report of the Parliamentary Finance Committee after reviewing the proposal, the salaries and allowances of independent institutions can only be revised after amending the respective laws.
The report also said that such a decision would not be fair as the salary and allowances are categorised to maintain organisational hierarchy and should be deducted equally. Therefore, the report said the committee does not recommend a deduction from the salary at this time.
Speaking during Tuesday’s sit-down, the committee chairman Gasim Ibrahim said only the salaries of Parliamentarians, the Auditor General’s Office and the judiciary could be reduced without legislative amendments.
In addition, the committee report also recommended the government to identify institutions that share a similar mandate and merge them by amending the relevant laws.
So the committee unanimously passed to recommend the government to propose the required legislative amendments to enforce pay cuts for officials of most independent institutions.
The committee report will now proceed to the Parliament floor for a vote.