Cyprus president nixes luxury car use for top civil servants

Cyprus’ president has scrapped plans to grant free-of-charge, around-the-clock use of state-financed luxury vehicles to top civil servants amid a public outcry over a perceived waste of taxpayers’ money.

The decision to grant vehicle use to officials including the permanent secretaries of government ministries was made following a deal with trade union officials to gradually re-instate the privilege that was cut amid fiscal belt-tightening following a 2013 financial crisis that nearly bankrupted the country.

The decision had angered Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides who had posted on his Twitter feed that he considered it “scandalous” for civil servants to use a “state limousine for family trips.”