Finance Minister urges immediate implementation of austerity measures

ISLAMABAD: Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the federal minister of finance and revenue, urged everyone involved on Monday to ensure and hasten the implementation of austerity measures with sincerity and devotion throughout their ranks without exception.

According to a press release from the Finance Ministry, the minister brought up the difficult economic situation in the nation while presiding over the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee to oversee the application of austerity measures. The Committee examined how the Cabinet’s decisions on austerity measures were carried out. The decisions and the state of their implementation were discussed during this presentation by the secretary of finance. He told the Committee that Ministries and Divisions were already working on these measures and that directives had been issued for immediate compliance and reporting of any exemptions.

The Committee directed all Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) to implement 15 percent cut in their current budgets, the statement added. It was decided that the use of teleconferences must be encouraged for all meetings to save time and expenditure.

The Committee conveyed that the decision to withdraw the use of luxury vehicles by the Cabinet members and government officials be implemented with no exemption in any case.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar,  Advisor PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Finance Tariq Bajwa, federal secretaries and senior officers.