Dar-led committee seeks extension of nationwide austerity measures until June 30

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

The Middle East war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, has triggered a global oil crisis. In response, the government announced unprecedented austerity measures on March 9 to manage the impact of the crisis.

During a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the committee recommended extending the nationwide austerity drive until June 30, according to a statement issued by the deputy prime minister’s office.

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

On Wednesday, the committee reviewed requests from various ministries seeking exemptions from certain austerity measures and finalized recommendations accordingly.

The statement said it was also decided that consular attestation services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its liaison offices in Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Gujrat and Lahore would remain operational on Fridays to facilitate the public.

The decision follows earlier austerity measures that reduced the working week for all government offices to four days, from Monday to Thursday.

The committee also proposed extending the closing time of grocery and kiryana stores to 10pm throughout the week.

The meeting was attended by the ministers for petroleum, climate change, and IT and telecom; the special assistant to the prime minister on finance; the special assistant to the deputy prime minister; the secretaries of cabinet, commerce, petroleum, and IT and Telecom; as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant ministries and divisions.

Among the austerity measures announced in March was a 50 percent reduction in fuel allowances for official vehicles, excluding operational vehicles such as ambulances and public buses.

Other measures included grounding 60 percent of official vehicles and imposing a complete ban on foreign visits by ministers and government officials, except for trips deemed essential to the country’s interests, as previously specified.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also directed the Intelligence Bureau to conduct a third-party audit of the implementation of the austerity measures.

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