Shehbaz reviews fuel price pressure, orders pay cuts, vehicle restrictions and spending restrictions across institutions
Prime Minister Shehbaz chairs a meeting on austerity measures. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB
Funds saved through the government’s austerity measures will be used to provide relief to the public under the current circumstances, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Saturday.
The announcement followed a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad to review the impact of the regional situation on the prices of petroleum products and the implementation of the government’s cost-cutting measures.
Last week, Prime Minister Sharif unveiled several energy savings and austerity measures to prevent fuel shortages and declared that he would not increase the prices of petroleum products further after a massive hike of Rs 55.
The measures, announced by the prime minister in a pre-recorded nationally televised speech, were aimed at saving fuel and providing funds to partially offset any further increases in diesel and petrol prices. The remaining gap is expected to be filled by the Finance Ministry’s Rs390 billion contingency fund.
The meeting discussed policy steps aimed at maintaining stability in oil prices as well as progress on austerity measures and their potential impact.
According to the statement, all savings generated through the government’s savings efforts will be directed towards public relief.
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As part of the measures, salaries for employees of state-owned enterprises and independent institutions operating under state patronage will be reduced in stages from 5% to 30%, similar to cuts already introduced for state employees.
The meeting also decided that government representatives sitting on boards of companies and other institutions will not receive board meeting fees, which will instead be added to the savings pool.
The Prime Minister directed Pakistani embassies around the world to celebrate National Day on March 23 with simplicity.
According to the PMO statement, officials said the four-day work week policy would not apply to law enforcement agencies or the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which will continue to follow their existing work schedules.
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The meeting also reviewed a decision to reduce fuel allocations for government vehicles by 50% in the next two months and to ground 60% of official vehicles, with a third-party audit to be conducted of the implementation.
Participants were also briefed on a complete ban on the purchase of new government vehicles and restrictions on other official purchases.
For the next two months, the salaries of cabinet members, ministers, advisers and special assistants will also be diverted as savings to public welfare.
A ban on foreign visits by ministers, advisers, special assistants and civil servants will remain in place, with teleconferences and online meetings to be prioritized.
The prime minister directed relevant secretaries to ensure the implementation and monitoring of all austerity measures and to submit daily reports to an audit committee.
Federal Ministers Attaullah Tarar, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Ali Pervaiz Malik, Foreign Minister Bilal Azhar Kayani, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue and other senior officials attended the meeting.
