New Zealand goes for 20% pay cuts amid COVID-19

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - New Zealand on Wednesday announced pay cuts for top public officials including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for a period of six months to cushion the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a news conference, Arden said her Cabinet and heads of government departments will face a 20% pay cut.

"I feel acutely the struggle many New Zealanders are facing and so too do the people I work with,” she said, thanking department heads for voluntarily accepting the salary cuts.

"While this cut in itself won't shift the government's overall fiscal position, it is an acknowledgement that every person and organization has a part to play as we unite to stamp out COVID-19 and save lives,” she added.

New Zealand has 1,386 cases of coronavirus, the country’s health chief said. At least nine people have died due to the virus.

Arden will part with $27,078 based on the new measures. The country’s prime minister has been praised for taking early steps in the face of the pandemic.

New Zealand is under lockdown to stem the spread of the virus.

Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the World Health Organization (WHO), she said: “The position of New Zealand was that the WHO was incredibly important.

“At a time like this where we need to be sharing information where we need to have advice that we can rely on the WHO has been doing that.”

However, her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison said his country “did not rely on the world health body's advice in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak”.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world.

Nearly 2 million people have been infected worldwide while over 493,000 people recovered from the disease, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. Over 126,000 have died.