Daily Times

The federal government has imposed a “complete ban” on specific expenditures, including the purchase of new vehicles, machinery, and state-funded medical treatment abroad, a Finance Division notification said this week.

The notification dated September 4, stated that with respect to the new budget, select expenditures will be completely prohibited to ease the burden on the overstrained national treasury.

It said that a ban will be imposed on the “purchase of all types of vehicles, with the exception of operational vehicles, such as ambulances & other medically equipped vehicles, fire fighting vehicles, buses & vans for educational institutions, solid waste vehicles and motorbikes.” The federal government said that the procurement of machinery and equipment, except those required for hospitals, laboratories, schools, and the agriculture and mining sector, will also be prohibited.

The notification further said that there will be a complete ban on the formation of new governmental posts, including temporary ones, while posts lying vacant for three years will be abolished.

Meanwhile, medical treatments in foreign countries using government funds will also be prohibited, while there will also be a ban on “non-obligatory visits abroad where GoP funding is involved,” the notification added. “All Ministries / Divisions are requested to disseminate the above instructions to all departments under their administrative control for strict compliance.”

Provincial administrations have already implemented austerity measures to some degree. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance department in April this year banned the creation of posts, the purchase of vehicles, participation in foreign training programmes and workshops, and the holding of seminars in five-star hotels when they implemented austerity measures.

The finance department said a ban had been slapped on foreign treatment at the provincial government’s expense, while extensions in the contractual period of project employees won’t be allowed unless justified by the relevant administrative departments and decided in consultation with it.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court has suspended the implementation of the notification for the purchase of 138 double-cabin vehicles for assistant commissioners and has called for responses from the parties. A high court bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, heard a petition against the Sindh government’s decision to purchase 138 double-cabins for assistant commissioners. The petition was filed by Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh Assembly member Mohammad Farooq and others.