PAOs directed to cut their budgets by 15pc: Austerity plan picks up the pace in austere times
- Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chairs first meeting to review the implementation of the decisions taken on austerity
ISLAMABAD: The monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of the austerity committee has directed all the principle accounting officers (PAOs) to implement a 15 percent cut in their current budgets as announced by the prime minister.
A day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed the committee to monitor the implementation of the austerity measures, he announced a few days before, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, on Monday, chaired its first meeting to review the implementation of the decisions taken during the federal cabinet meeting on February 22, 2023, on austerity.
The finance secretary gave a presentation on the decisions and their implementation status and informed the monitoring committee that ministries/divisions are already working on these measures and instructions have been issued for immediate compliance and reporting of any exemption and violation of these decisions. The committee directed all the PAOs to implement a 15 percent cut in their current budgets.
Austerity drive: Notification about monitoring body issued
The meeting decided that the use of teleconferences must be encouraged for all meetings to save time and expenditure. The committee conveyed that a decision to withdraw the use of luxury vehicles by the Cabinet members and government officials be implemented with no exemption in any case.
Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, highlighting the challenging economic situation in the country, stressed all the concerned to ensure and expedite the implementation of austerity measures with sincerity and devotion in their ranks without any exception.
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 to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance Tariq Bajwa, federal secretaries, and senior officers attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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