PM office expenses slashed by 31%, cabinet told

Imran Khan urges govt’s austerity drive be implemented in letter and spirit

ISLAMABAD: The cabinet was told on Thursday that the Prime Minister’s office had taken lead in cutting down its expenditure by 31% during the current financial year, resulting in a saving of Rs303 million.

“The savings have been made under various heads including pay and allowances, food expenses, motor vehicle fuel, and cash rewards,” said an official statement issued to media after the meeting.

According to the statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was chairing the meeting, reiterated his call for a maximum possible cut in expenditure and urged all the ministers to ensure that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s austerity drive is implemented in letter and spirit.

It was decided that in future a high-level committee would propose a panel of suitable officers for posting against the slot of a secretary of a ministry.

The committee would be headed by adviser to PM on Establishment and include Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, the concerned minister-in-charge, secretary establishment, and secretary to PM.

It was decided that normal tenure on the post would be two years and continuation of tenure will be subject to review by the minister-in-charge after the initial six months.

It was also decided that normal tenure of two years could be extended to three years on the basis of a performance review by the prime minister in consultation with the minister-in-charge.

The cabinet also granted ex-post facto approval of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on industrial cooperation between the National Development and Reform Commission of China and the Federal Board of Investment of Pakistan.

It ratified the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) in its meeting held on 02-01-2019. The cabinet granted ex post facto approval to appointments of administrator and deputy administrators in the Abandoned Properties Organisation.

The cabinet approved the appointment of Azhar Hameed as the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) chairman. It also approved MoU between China’s Yunnan Minzu University (YMU) and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

The cabinet gave the nod to a proposal to appoint M/S Horwath Hussain Chaudhry & Co to audit the accounts of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) for the financial year 2017-18.

The cabinet ratified Visa Abolition Agreement between Pakistan and the Republic of Cyprus for diplomatic and official/service passport holders. It approved the appointment of Raja Amer Khan as chairman of the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE).

The cabinet approved the appointment of Justice Shahid Karim as a judge and Justice Tahira Safdar as president of a special court, constituted under Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act, 1976.

The cabinet also approved the composition of a steering committee for the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme.  It approved the MoU between Pakistan and China Overseas Ports Holdings Company under the Clean Green Pakistan Movement (CGP-M).