Due to the right sizing agreement with the World Bank, the federal government has started the process of eliminating thousands of vacancies in grades 1 to 16. The Finance Ministry directed the Secretary Establishment Division to take action as per the decision of the Cabinet Implementation Committee to end the vacancies of grades 1 to 16 in all ministries, divisions and government departments. The decision is part of the government’s commitment with the international lending agencies, including the World Bank, for the “reorganisation and right-sizing of the federal government” to control expenditure on running of the civil government. The finance ministry said its communication to the establishment division that the number of employees in the federal government had “increased consistently during the last decade and due to this the annual salary bill has increased by three times and the pension bill is becoming unmanageable”. The letter said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and the World Bank wanted the government machinery to be in the right size and smart to limit unnecessary expenditure.