Mozambique’s government is cutting down on the perks of office – so driving a Mercedes-Benz and getting free housing will be things of the past for high-ranking officials.

Finance Minister Adriano Malaeiane said the aim was to save $120m (£90m) next year.

His announcement comes a month after the government came under fire for buying 45 cars at an estimate cost of $2m (£1.5m) at a time of austerity.

After a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Mr Maleiane said:

Due to the difficulties the state is facing to make housing available for high ranking governmental officials, it had resorted to renting. This has brought about enormous costs to the state. So, the measure now is to set an average ceiling, first to enforce discipline and secondly to save.”

For cars, only vehicles with between 1,300cc and 1,500cc engines would be allowed – this is much smaller than the Mercedes S500’s estimated 2,999cc engine, which was reportedly among those bought last month.

The minister added:

We are also going to put an end to the long-standing scandal of buying cars with the sole purpose of selling them at a discount to officials for their personal use.

Instead when an official takes office he will be granted an allowance to spend on whatever he likes, provided that it is acceptable to the society.

The fuel and communications costs have also been a heavy burden to the state. Therefore, we have now decided on maximum expenditure limits.”