Madagascar will close its embassy in Tripoli, Libya, for insufficiency of money, according to the latest decision by the government of the Indian Ocean island country.

"Maintaining this Embassy to work means a significant financial impact on the public purse and it is advisable to close it temporarily," said a statement issued at the end of a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

During political events in Libya in 2011, Madagascar decided to evacuate to Tunisia employees of its Embassy in Tripoli before the

final repatriation of non-essential employees in June 2011.

The ambassador and the accountant continued their work in the Malagasy Embassy in Libya, but in April 2012, the ambassador was repatriated with only the accountant and his translator maintaining the minimum operation of the embassy.

Madagascar opened its embassy in Tripoli in 2005 and appointed the former minister of higher education, Dieudonne Marie Michel Razafindrandriatsimaniry, as first Malagasy ambassador to Libya.