ISLAMABAD: Salman Ahmad, member of Economic Advisory Council, has stated that the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided that it would resist boom and bust cycle to ensure sus-tainable economic growth. Speaking on media, he noted that the government was actively undertaking a comprehensive rightsiz-ing exercise aimed at eliminating redundancy, duplication, and inefficiency across federal ministries and departments to reduce the burden on taxpayers and support economic reforms.
He explained that wherever public funds are being spent without delivering benefits — especially in ministries devolved to provinces after the 18th Amendment or departments with outdated, redun-dant mandates — recommendations are being compiled for necessary action.
Out of 39 federal ministries comprising around 450 departments, the government is currently review-ing 32 ministries with nearly 350 departments. “A line-by-line review is underway and recommenda-tions are being sent to the federal cabinet for approval,” he added.
Clarifying that no ministries are being shut down yet, Ahmed said, “We are not closing ministries for now, but we are analysing their functions and sending recommendations — this could involve merging departments, shutting them down, transferring them, or even moving them off the books.”
When asked whether employees would be laid off, he stressed that while rightsising may lead to tough decisions, it is necessary. “The people of Pakistan are already bearing a heavy tax burden. It is our responsibility to reduce this load through rightsizing, especially in institutions that are unproductive or where no work is being done,” he said.
He also pointed out a broader economic plan — Sustainable Economic Growth, saying: “The journey to sustainable economic growth begins by shedding the perception of default, undertaking structural re-forms, ensuring economic stability, attracting investment — and only then can we reach the stage of true, sustainable economic growth.”
Furthermore, he said when the country travels on the path toward economic stability, political pres-sure emerges over “lack” of visible economic growth. This pressure, he warned, threatens to derail the reform agenda and push Pakistan back into a boom-bust cycle.
“It is the decision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the current government to resist this cycle and instead pursue long-term structural reforms,” Ahmed stated.
Ahmed further revealed that the rightsizing process has been ongoing for the past year. Recommen-dations concerning 10 federal ministries have already been submitted to the cabinet, with further re-views continuing steadily. “Every four to five weeks, we forward recommendations for four to five ministries,” he added.
Responding to questions about the nature of these recommendations, Ahmed clarified that the gov-ernment is not planning to shut down entire ministries. However, individual departments within those ministries may be closed, merged, downsized, or transferred, depending on their relevance and per-formance. –Agencies
