Economist Dr. Qaiser Bangali, a member of the austerity committee formed by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, declared the austerity measures of 200 billion rupees insufficient.
In his message on the micro-blogging site Twitter, Dr. Qaiser Bangali has described the 200 billion rupees austerity measures taken by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as insufficient.
It was decided in the federal cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of the prime minister yesterday that the prime minister, federal ministers, ministers of state and advisers will not receive salaries and benefits.
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The federal cabinet has decided that all the ministers and assistants and advisers, including Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, will pay all the utility bills on their own, while the government vehicles will also be returned.
The federal cabinet decided that the security staff of the ministers will be reduced, while the staff of the ministers will not accompany them on international trips, while staying in five-star hotels will also be avoided.
Rs 200 billion austerity measures announced by PM are welcome, but will have marginal impact. At least 1000 billion need to be shaved off immediately across all arms of the State.
— Dr. Kaiser Bengali (@kaiserbengali) February 22, 2023
In the meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, it was informed that through austerity measures, up to 200 billion rupees will be saved annually, while the share of the provinces will be separate.
Economist Dr. Qaiser Bengali welcomed the austerity measures of the federal cabinet, however, he termed these measures insufficient and said that they will have a minor effect.
Dr. Qaiser Bengali, a member of the austerity committee, has said that the saving of 200 billion rupees is insufficient, the state needs to reduce the expenses of at least 1000 billion rupees.
Earlier, the austerity committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had compiled and sent recommendations to the government regarding savings of one thousand billion rupees.
The National Austerity Committee had recommended reducing Rs 200 billion in subsidies, Rs 200 billion in development expenditure and Rs 55 billion in government expenditure.
The committee recommended a cut of Rs 70 billion in discretionary funds and a 15 percent cut in the non-combat defense budget, while saving Rs 174 billion from development schemes.