The measure follows a huge devaluation of the currency as Malawi secures a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost its ailing economy.

Mr Chakwera has also ordered all ministers currently abroad to return home.

Fuel allowances for senior government officials have been cut by 50%.

Malawi’s economy has been undergoing turbulent times, characterised by an acute shortage of petrol and diesel, as well as high inflation.

In a televised address, Mr Chakwera said the measures would remain in place until the end of the financial year in March 2024.

Some similar austerity measures were announced during the Covid-19 pandemic but had limited impact as they were not strictly enforced.

As part of moves to ease the cost-of-living crisis, the president has asked the finance minister to make provisions for a reasonable wage increase for all civil servants in the next budget review.

He has also ordered a lowering of income tax on individuals in the upcoming budget, to help workers whose incomes have lost value.

The IMF has approved a four-year credit facility worth $174m (£140m), just days after Malawi’s central bank announced the devaluation of the kwacha by 44%.

Analysts suggest the devaluation may have been a condition for securing the IMF credit facility.

Some fear the currency devaluation will only raise prices and potentially worsen Malawians financial woes, as happened a decade ago.

Officials have blamed the economic downturn on external factors, such as a devastating cyclone earlier this year and the war in Ukraine.

President Chakwera is one of the African leaders to participate in the Global Education Summit on Financing Global Partnership for Education (GPE) 2021-2025.

Although organisers of the summit allowed a small in-person event in London, the Malawian president cited “unreliable internet connection” in his country as the reason he is embarking on the trip.

The conference, according to organisers, is a largely virtual summit scheduled to take off on July 28 and will run for two days, each with an exciting roster of speakers.

Mr Chakwera, however, blamed poor internet connection as the reason he is attending the conference physically.

“Though the said summit is virtual, the president needs to be in the UK physically as you know internet connection in Malawi is not reliable,” Malawi’s presidential spokesperson told local journalists.

The Malawian president is said to have arrived in London in the early hours of Monday with his wife and daughter as part of a 10-person entourage to attend the summit after the UK rejected his proposed 61-person entourage.

Mr Chakwera’s delegation, according to Malawi Times, included his wife, First Lady Monica Chakwera; daughter Violet Lillie and the President’s son-in-law Sean Kampondeni, who is State House Director of Communications.

He said that he needed his daughter there because she would provide physical and emotional support during the trip as the First Lady was reportedly not feeling well.

The president’s reason for embarking on the journey sparked outrage in Malawi and some critics accused him of “nepotism and hypocrisy.”