Pay cuts for MPs and political appointees, 50 percent cut for President

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced the decision to reduce the remuneration of the Maldives head of state by 50 percent along with pay cuts for lawmakers and political appointees.

The changes to the remuneration of senior government officials will become effective with the state budget for upcoming 2025.

President Muizzu in a post on X said that as part of the economic reform agenda, has made significant decisions to implement austerity measures for the next year’s state budget, which include a pay revision for a two-year period. They are:

1. A 10 percent pay reduction for political appointees
2. A 10 percent pay reduction from the employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with the exception of banks, with a maximum remuneration of MVR 90,000 for the top executive positions in public corporations (currently the pay framework grants over MVR 100,000 per month in remuneration to the top executive spot)
3. A 10 percent cut from the senior-most officials of independent institutions/commissions for which the reforms would be submitted to relevant bodies
4. Imploring parliamentarians and senior-most officials of the judiciary for a pay reduction of 10 percent

As per the remuneration regulations for the president and vice president, the president is subject to receive a total salary of MVR 100,000 per month. The former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-led government earlier attempted to increase this to MVR 120,000; which however, never came to pass while President Muizzu, upon succession, announced he did not wish for a pay hike.

 As per his decision for a 50 percent pay reduction, the president will stand to receive just MVR 50,000 per month.

Since the remuneration of lawmakers are set by themselves, their current take home pay, inclusive of committee allowance, is MVR 82,500 per month.

These pay cuts have been announced at a time when the Maldives government has been making rigorous efforts to cut state expenses, while various global financial institutions have warned the country’s potential to serve is debts looked bleak. Both Moody’s and Fitch Ratings had earlier this year downgraded the Maldives’ credit rating.

Last year week, President Muizzu announced the decision to cut 228 political positions, which is aligned with the same cost-cutting efforts.