Like all prior regimes, the Shehbaz Sharif administration has been promoting an austerity narrative ever since regaining office. This narrative lacks tangible policy support and is mostly centered around the announcement of token actions.
It has recently announced certain cost-cutting initiatives. The so-called austerity package includes some cosmetic measures, such a temporary prohibition on the acquisition of automobiles, machinery, and equipment; it also suspends publicly financed medical treatment overseas and prohibits federal government employees from traveling abroad for “non-essential” travel. You are mistaken if you think these steps will actually be taken or that they will reduce the government’s already skyrocketing current spending. These won’t even begin to cover the basics. These actions are nothing more than a marketing gimmick meant to placate irate voters.
To cut expenses, the administration has also chosen to right-size and reorganize the federal ministries and the departments that are affiliated to them. The cabinet has made the decision to eliminate 150,000 positions, contract out handyman work, and provide severance pay to surplus staff members. These actions are purportedly a part of the continuous effort to reduce the size of the federal government, carry out the 18th Amendment’s devolution objective, and save substantial expenditures.
Once more, this is not the first government to declare that it will eliminate unnecessary positions and contract out odd work to the private sector. We should cross our fingers and hope that these decisions end up being put into action. However, without comprehensive reforms to reduce the advantages of the higher bureaucracy through the monetisation of many infinite privileges enjoyed by them, the number of federal employees will remain relatively unchanged.
Since paying down debt accounts for over half of federal budgetary expenditures, the government must now drastically cut itsNevertheless, there is nothing in the current year’s budget to suggest that the government is genuinely committed to reducing unnecessary spending.
In light of the state machinery’s soaring spending, the central government’s domestic debt rose by Rs537 billion in July, according to a report in this daily, bringing the overall public debt to Rs69.6 trillion from Rs68.914 trillion. The government’s austerity narrative is further undermined by the sharp rise in the national debt. Prudent living necessitates difficult decisions. Our politicians are not, at least not yet, supported by any evidence to suggest that they are prepared to make these decisions. The true austerity reforms cannot be postponed for an extended period of time, even withstanding Pakistan’s current economic and financial crisis, which is among its worst. It is inevitable that the government will eventually have to address these issues and implement real reforms.
