The Ferozepur Road Industrial Association Lahore (FRIA) has said that in a bid to ensure prudent utilization of public money, the upcoming government should introduce an austerity plan that included ban on purchase of all vehicles and ban on purchase of machinery and equipment. Fria senior vice chairman Shahbaz Aslam said that there shall be a complete ban on purchase of all vehicles except ambulances, buses for educational institutions, solid waste vehicles, tractors, fire fighting vehicles, motor bikes; and there shall be ban on creation of new posts under PSDP/current budget during Financial Year 2023-24. The government’s austerity measure needed at the time when the country’s budget deficit was increasing. The consolidated fiscal deficit has been recorded at 2.3 percent of GDP (Rs2407.8 billion) in first six months (July-December) of the current fiscal year FY2024 against 2.0 percent of GDP (Rs.1683.5 billion) last year. While a primary surplus witnessed a continuous improvement due to contained growth in non-mark-up spending relative to markup payments. Primary surplus improved to Rs.1812.2 billion (1.7 percent of GDP) during Jul-Dec FY2024 from the surplus of Rs.889.6 billion (1.1 percent of GDP last year. Total expenditures grew by 45 percent to Rs.9261.8 billion during Jul-Dec FY2024 against Rs.6382.4 billion last year. Within total, current spending increased by 41 percent mainly due to a 64 percent rise in markup payments during the first six months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest data of the ministry of finance.