Employees of SOEs, other govt-supervised bodies to face 5-30pc salary cut as part of austerity measures: PMO

Employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and autonomous institutions under government patronage would see their salaries cut by five to 30 per cent under the government’s austerity measures, which would go towards public relief, it was decided on Saturday.

The move adds to a host of austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday in view of the global oil crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has hiked local fuel prices.

On Saturday, PM Shehbaz chaired a meeting reviewing the impact of petroleum product prices and the implementation of government austerity measures in view of the ongoing situation in the Middle East, a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

“It was decided in the meeting that, like government employees, there will be a 5-30pc cut in the salaries of employees of state-owned enterprises and autonomous institutions under government patronage,” the statement said.

It added that the funds saved as a result of all austerity measures would be used “only for public relief”.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other relevant senior officials.

Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial was also present.

While reviewing formerly-announced initatives, the meeting decided that the four-day work week would not be applicable to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and the FBR, who would carry out their duties as normal.

It reviewed measures that had been previously announced, reiterating that a third-party audit would be conducted in the next two months regarding the decisions to ground 60pc of government vehicles and to cut 50pc of the fuel allotted to government vehicles of all departments.

“The meeting was also briefed on the implementation of the government’s complete ban on the purchase of new vehicles and the ban on all other government purchases,” the PMO statement added.

In addition, the next two months’ salaries of cabinet members, ministers, advisers and special assistants (SAPMs) would also be “used as savings for public welfare”.

The meeting was also informed about the implementation of the decision to completely ban foreign visits of ministers, advisers and SAPMs, and instead prioritise teleconferencing and online meetings.

“The complete ban on foreign visits of government officers, ministers, ministers of state and special assistants will remain in place,” PM Shehbaz was quoted as saying.

The meeting also decided that corporations and other institutions with government representatives on their boards would not charge a fee for them to participate in the board, and that this fee would be included in the savings, it said.

“The premier also directed all Pakistani embassies around the world to celebrate the celebrations of March 23 with utmost simplicity,” the statement added, referring to Pakistan Day.

It said that the premier issued instructions that “the concerned secretaries will implement and monitor all these austerity orders and measures and will submit a report to the review committee on a daily basis”.

The US-Iran war, which began two weeks ago, has had a dramatic effect on the economy of Pakistan and the rest of the world, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused massive fuel price hikes.

The government had announced a Rs55 per litre increase in petrol and high-speed diesel prices last week, citing a surge in global oil prices.

On Friday, when the government was due to announce new prices under the new weekly revision plan, PM Shehbaz decided that the prices would remain unchanged despite the uptick in the international oil market.

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