Sir: Now a days there is much talk about austerity. But how can we make it effective, when there is no control on spending. At present any man having billions in his coffer can purchase as many cars as he likes, build large number of houses, travel in luxury class, and stay in luxury hotels and so on. Therefore unless we take measures to control spending, particularly by this class of people, austerity shall remain a far cry. We need to curb spending by this class by imposing heavy taxes and seeking prior approval from the government to justify the needs before spending large sums of money. Affordability should not justify any reckless spending. RASHEED ASGHAR Lahore Published in Daily Times, September 15th 2018.