Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman have decided to reduce the fuel expenditure of their respective secretariats by 40 per cent as part of austerity measures in light of the record increase in prices of petroleum products.
According to a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the decision was taken during a meeting between NA Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.
The decision to cut down on fuel expenditure by the Senate and the National Assembly secretariats will be applicable to the Senate chairman, deputy chairman, the NA speaker, and deputy speaker among other bigwigs. The heads of standing committees and officers will take austerity measures and reduce fuel consumption as well, added the statement.
Sanjrani and Ashraf also discussed current political and economic crises and said the government officials stood by the masses in this difficult hour.
The decision to reduce the fuel expenditure by the two secretariats came after the federal cabinet, provincial governments significantly slash their fuel spending.
Along with the federal cabinet, Punjab and Sindh had reduced their fuel quota by 40 per cent whereas Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cut down on their fuel expenditure by 50 and 35 per cent, respectively.
The austerity measures are being taken as part of the government’s plan to rein in the cash crunch as well as minimise the use of petrol amid a record increase in the price of petroleum products in the global market.
Last week, a day after hiking the prices of petroleum products by Rs30, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had decided on Friday to slash the petrol quota of the federal cabinet members and government employees, sources privy to the matter said.
The government had announced increasing the petrol price to Rs209.86 per litre. The price of petrol, diesel, and light diesel were hiked by Rs30 per litre, while the rate of kerosene oil was increased to Rs26.38 per litre, effective from June 3.
The decision was made in line with the conditions set forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the removal of subsidies from commodities so that it could lend funds to Pakistan.
