Myanmar axes ministries

Myanmar's Speaker of Parliament announced on Thursday (Mar 17) that the nation will have 21 ministries and 18 ministers, down from 36 ministries currently. 

During a Parliament sitting which lasted less than 15 minutes, the Speaker added that some ministries will be merged.

These include the Ministry for Electricity and Energy, as well as Culture and Religious Affairs. While some ministries were axed, new ones - such as for Ethnic Affairs, and Resources and Environmental Conservation - were formed. 

The National League for Democracy, which scored a landslide win in last November's elections, had previously said it wants to reduce the current 36 ministries to about 20.