Govt Bans New Jobs and Abolishes Vacant Posts Under New Austerity Measures

The Federal Government has notified austerity measures for the financial year (FY) 2022-23 as well as Austerity Committee to oversee the implementation of these measures.

The Finance Division issued two notifications in this regard. The first notification regarding the Austerity Committee stated that in pursuance of the decision taken by the Federal Cabinet in its meeting held on 07-06-2022, the following 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. To invite proposals from Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) for curtailing expenditures;
3. To approve proposals for relaxation from the approved measures;
4. To constitute a separate committee for reviewing the need and utility of autonomous bodies, SOEs, corporations, authorities, etc.

According to the second notification, in pursuance of the decision taken by the Federal Cabinet, in its meeting held on 07-06-2022, the undersigned is directed to convey that keeping in view the extraordinary financial constraints being faced by the country at present and to conserve resources, extraordinary measures are required to be taken for ensuring rational utilization of public money besides curtailing expenditure to reduce the fiscal deficit.

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.