Govt Announces Austerity Committee to Cut Unnecessary Expenses

The Finance Ministry has announced a 10-member committee to implement the government’s austerity drive. The committee will be headed by the Minister of Finance, Miftah Ismail. According to the notification issued by the Finance Division, the government is taking strict measures to cut expenses. The Finance Division has imposed a ban on the creation of new posts, excluding the development projects. In addition, a ban has been imposed on purchasing all types of vehicles from the current and the development budget. This excludes utility vehicles such as ambulances, school buses, and solid waste vehicles. The notification further read that the Principal Accounting Officers will ensure that the consumption of utilities is reduced by 10 percent and the existing entitlement for POL for government functionaries is reduced by 30 percent. The Accounting Officers have also been endowed with the duty to promote online platforms for meeting instead of traveling and abolish non-productive posts. The ban also includes official lunches, excluding lunches for foreign delegations, purchase of furniture, purchase of machinery, and abroad treatment at government expenses. The government has been devising austerity drives for over a decade with varying targets and obtaining mixed results. Given the current economic situation, the government has taken harsher steps than the previous governments. Previously, the government had announced the five-day-a-week routine plus initiating work from home to save energy.