The Monitoring Committee, which is in charge of monitoring the implementation of austerity measures in Pakistan, has expressed grave concerns regarding some officers’ use of vehicles with more than 1,800cc. Therefore, it has been ordered that the use of these vehicles cease immediately by all authorities. State-run Radio Pakistan reported on this directive.
This action was taken after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded that ministers and advisers travel in coach, give up their salaries and luxury cars, among other measures of austerity as part of a larger effort to save the government Rs 200 billion ($766 million) annually.
These actions have been taken as Islamabad struggles with its balance of payments and tries to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $1 billion in funds that has been pending since late last year because of policy issues.
In order to review the implementation of the decisions made at its first meeting regarding the implementation of austerity measures, the committee met on Monday in Islamabad under the direction of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
During this meeting, the committee raised concerns regarding the use of luxury vehicles regarding the non-return of some of these vehicles. The Cabinet Division has been given orders to adhere strictly to the decision’s requirements and to retrieve the final few expensive vehicles within three days.
The committee decided to carry out its decision to remove security vehicles in letter and spirit in addition to discussing the use of luxury vehicles. The Ministry of Law and Justice was tasked with approaching the superior judiciary to propose the implementation of austerity measures in the judiciary as well as approaching the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairman to discuss the use of teleconferences for all meetings in order to save time and money.
The committee also discussed working hours and decided that the new hours would be 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and until 12:30 p.m. on Fridays, starting on the first day of Ramadan. According to the cabinet’s decision, this schedule will be followed during the summer, and a notification will be sent out in that regard.
The committee was informed during the meeting by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination that they had already approached provincial governments with suggestions for the adoption of comparable austerity measures.
Speaking at the event, the finance minister instructed all authorities to swiftly implement austerity measures with sincerity and true spirit.
It should be noted that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have decreased below a month’s worth of import coverage, making the government’s announced spending cuts necessary to prevent an economic collapse. In order to guarantee Pakistan’s economic stability and secure the resources required to maintain a functional government, austerity measures had to be put in place.
