Dar-led committee recommends extending countrywide austerity drive till June 30

The committee for monitoring austerity measures and fuel conservation on Wednesday recommended extending the countrywide austerity drive until June 30.

The Middle East war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, has given rise to a global oil crisis. As a result, the government announced unprecedented austerity measures on March 9 to deal with the impacts of the crisis.

In a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the committee recommended extending the countrywide austerity drive till June 30, according to a statement by the DPM’s office.

Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved the extension of the austerity measures until June 13.

On Wednesday, the Dar-led committee reviewed several cases by different ministries “seeking exemptions from applicability of certain austerity measures and finalised recommendations accordingly”.

“It was also decided that consular attestation services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) and its liaison offices in Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Gujrat, and Lahore would remain operational on Fridays as well for public facilitation,” the statement read.

This decision comes after previously announced austerity measures reduced the working week for all government offices to four days — Monday to Thursday.

The committee also suggested that the closing time of grocery and kiryana stores be extended to 10pm throughout the week.

In attendance at the meeting were ministers for petroleum, climate change, and IT & telecom; the special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on finance; the special assistant to the DPM; the secretaries of cabinet, commerce, petroleum, and IT & Telecom; as well as senior officials from Mofa and other relevant ministries and divisions.

Among the austerity measures announced in March was 50 per cent reduction in fuel allowance for official vehicles, with the exemption of operational vehicles such as ambulances and public buses.

Other steps included grounding 60pc of official vehicles and a complete ban on foreign visits by ministers and government officials, excluding those deemed essential for the country’s interests, as specified the last time.

PM Shehbaz had tasked the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to carry out a third-party audit of the implementation of the austerity measures.