Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Leading economist Dr Kaiser Bengali on Monday said he would not withdraw resignation from his positions in the official committees.
Dr Bengali, who had tendered his resignation on Saturday talking to media here said, he will not return to the government committees.
“I will assist if being asked for help as giving assistance to Sindh and Baluchistan’s governments,” Kaiser Bengali said.
He said the country has gone bankrupt, “no one accepting to grant us loan”. He said foreign companies quitting Pakistan”.
“We want to sell our state entities, but no one is interested,” economist said.
He said the economy has devastated but none in Islamabad giving attention to it.
He suggested cut in taxes and interest rate to save the industry.
“I am suggesting for cutting expenditures and slashing imports for last 10 years,” Kaiser Bengali said. “The problems would not be solved with shutting down the institutions,” he stressed.
Earlier, a government spokesman had termed his resignation based on a misunderstanding.
“Not only positions from grades 1 to 16 but all government positions from grades 1 to 22 are being right-sized,” a government spokesperson said.
Earlier, Renowned economist Dr Kaiser Bengali on Saturday stepped down from three government committees formed to cut expenditures and carry out institutional rightsizing, warning that the economy “is on a ventilator due to [mounting] debts and on the path to destruction”.
Bengali was a member of key bodies for austerity, rightsizing and expenditure reduction committees formed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led coalition government to deal with the economic crisis after it returned to power after the 2024 general elections.
He sent his resignation to Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb and Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal.
His resignation came at a time when the incumbent government is claiming to make all-out efforts to come out of the economic crisis via austerity measures, rightsizing and privatisation of unnecessary and loss-making state-owned entities, as well as seeking another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In his statement, Bengali praised the incumbent government for initiating “good efforts” to reduce its spending and termed the three committees crucial for cutting down the government’s expenditure.
Detailing his services, the economist said that all three committees tabled recommendations to the federal government for reducing the government’s expenses.
He added that the panels suggested shutting down 17 divisions and 50 departments after precisely reviewing the functioning and effectiveness of 70 government institutions and 17 corporations.
“This government is taking steps against the recommendations [of the committees],” Bengali slammed the decisions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration.
“Junior employees — from Grade 1 to 16 — are being terminated instead of high-ranking officers from Grade 17 to 22 to reduce the expenses,” he alleged.
“Jobs of Grade 17 to 22 officers in different departments are being protected [by the federal government]. If we remove these high-ranking officers, we could have cut our financial expenses by Rs30 billion annually,” he claimed.
