Govt decides to Abolishes Vacant Posts Under New Austerity Measures

The Federal Government has released austerity measures for the upcoming financial year, as well as an Austerity Committee to oversee implementation.

The Finance Division has issued two notifications regarding the Austerity Committee. The first notification states that following the decision taken by the Federal Cabinet in its meeting on 07-06-2022, the Austerity Committee is hereby constituted:

1. Finance Minister (Chairman)
2. Minister for Planning
3. Minister for Communication
4. Minister for Commerce
5. Minister for Maritime Affairs
6. Minister of State for Finance
7. Secretary Finance
8. Secretary Planning
9. Secretary Industries
10. Additional Finance Secretary (Expenditure) Secretary

The Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the Austerity Committee shall be as follows:

1. To periodically review and ensure implementation of austerity measures and matters linked thereto for the financial year 2022-23;
2. The Ministry of Finance invites proposals from Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) for reducing expenditures.
3. To approve proposals for relaxation from the approved measures;
4. The government should establish a separate committee to review the need and utility of autonomous bodies, state-owned enterprises, corporations, and authorities.

It is hereby notified, in pursuance of the decision taken by the Federal Cabinet in its meeting held on 07-06-2022, that extraordinary measures are required to be taken for ensuring rational utilization of public money, to conserve resources and reduce the fiscal deficit, given the extraordinary financial constraints being faced by the country at present.

Accordingly, the Federal Government is pleased to enforce the following austerity measures for the financial year 2022-23:-

There shall be a complete ban on:

• Purchase of all types of vehicles from current and development budget except utility vehicles such as ambulances, busses for educational institutions, solid waste vehicles, etc.;
• Creation of new posts except those required for development projects;
• Treatment abroad at government expenses;
• Appointment of contingent paid/daily wagers staff except for development projects;
• Purchase of office furniture except for development projects;
• Purchase of machinery and equipment including air conditioners, microwave, fridge, photocopier, etc.;
• Official visits abroad by Government, functionaries where GoP funding is involved except obligatory visits;
• Official lunches/dinners/hi-tea except for foreign delegations;
• Periodical, magazines, newspapers, etc.

Principal Accounting Officers shall ensure that:

• Consumption of utilities be reduced by 10%;
• Existing entitlement for POL for government functionaries be reduced by 30%;
• Avoidable travel be curtailed by promoting the use of zoom/video links;
• Vacant/redundant/non-productive posts be abolished.

In addition to the above, Federal Government has further decided that:

• POL usage of ministers’ vehicles would be slashed by 40% and security vehicles of cabinet members would be reduced by 50%;
• VIP cavalcades’ expenses would be reduced without compromising security.
• All ministries/divisions are requested to disseminate the above instructions to all their concerned departments/organizations/autonomous bodies/corporations/authorities, etc. for strict compliance.
• Provincial Governments may also adopt these measures.