On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that Pakistan can overcome its current challenges through collective efforts. He expressed gratitude to the coalition partners for their support. He announced that he will personally oversee the implementation of the austerity plan unveiled by the government the previous day. Plan is to save Rs200 billion annually by reducing government expenditures.
The prime minister warned that there may be more price hikes due to the conditions imposed by the IMF. The austerity measures include withdrawing salaries and perks of the prime minister, ministers’ special assistants and advisers. It also includes a 15% cut in expenses for all government departments. The cabinet also decided to make the data of Toshakhana public on the website . Plan is also to limit the value of gifts the prime minister can accept to $300 or about Rs80,000. The prime minister requested the chief justices of the Supreme Court and all high courts, as well as chief ministers of provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan to implement similar measures. Finally, the prime minister expressed optimism that negotiations with the IMF were in the final stage, and the government would meet all the conditions to continue the lending programme.
