PM Office seeks hike in budget defying belt-tightening claims

Move sets bad precedent for govt departments

ISLAMABAD:

 

In violation of its own national austerity policy, the Prime Minister Office has sought Rs75 million or 16% additional budget for allowances, fuel, and food instead of placing a cut on the expenses, setting a wrong precedent for other departments.

The additional funds have been demanded by the internal wing of the PM Office, with the permission of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, documents showed.

Highly placed sources told The Express Tribune that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has already quietly sanctioned Rs18.5 million supplementary grant out of the Rs75 million demanded by the PM Office.

The money was given for employees-related expenses, they added.

In order to keep the matter a secret, the Ministry of Finance did not mention the decision of allocating an additional Rs18.5 million to the PM Office in its official handout.

The PM Office sought funds for offsetting the impact of “inflation, price hikes, specifically POL and food items”.

Unlike the rulers who get more money from the budget for fuel cost, the common man is forced to either cut his expenses or reduce travelling.

For the current fiscal year, the National Assembly had approved a Rs993 million budget for the PM Office. This included Rs465 million for the PM’s internal office and Rs528 million for the PM’s public wing.

The details showed that the PM Office sought Rs75 million increase in the internal wing’s budget, which will take the total internal wing budget to Rs540 million –a surge of 16.1%.

Under the National Austerity Policy announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz in the presence of his allies, the PM’s internal wing budget had to be slashed by 15% or Rs70 million.

Instead, it came up with the demand for the additional funds, setting a bad precedent for others.

The matter was debated during the last ECC meeting, according to the sources.

Some members of the ECC were of the view that the cabinet body should not give supplementary grants to the PM Office, as it would be perceived as negative due to the prevailing economic conditions.

Although the summary for the Rs75 million grant had been circulated among the ministers before the meeting, it was not officially put on the ECC agenda to keep the matter hidden from the eyes of the public.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was also initially against the demand but he then sanctioned the additional amount to the extent of employees-related expenses.

The sources said that the ECC asked the Petroleum Division to make arrangements for buying fuel on deferred payments for the PM’s internal wing so that additional money would not be needed for the time being.

The PM Office wrote to the ECC that the internal wing was responsible for holding and arranging official commitments of the prime minister, which required matching financial provisions. Accordingly, the anticipated budget was allocated for FY 2022-23.

“The allocated budget is being utilised by strictly following austerity measures 2022-23. However, due to revision of employee-related expenses and inflation, the price hikes under certain heads other than employee-related expenses; the existing financial provisions are hampering smooth functioning and management of heavy daily commitments at the August House”, according to the details.

It stated that “additional funds are immediately required for the remaining financial year 2022-23”.

It seems that the matter was in the knowledge of the prime minister. “The Honorable Prime Minister has seen and authorised its submission,” according to the documents.

The Finance Division on Jan 20, 2023 had conveyed its concurrence for provision of additional funds amounting to Rs75 million. The money is being diverted from the lump sum provision of the Finance Division for the current financial year.

Despite claiming to follow the austerity drive, the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission still maintains funds from where they meet such expenses.

The Planning Commission has renovated the office of one of its newly appointed members, providing new ceramics and furniture – in a move that is equal to rubbing salt on the wounds of the inflation-bitten people.

At the start of the fiscal year, the government approved 150% executive allowance for handpicked employees.

It partially amended the decision last month by including some leftover service groups but it has still left out the Federal Board of Revenue whose employees are feeling aggrieved against the discrimination.

The double pay is frozen, which has been reduced to 25% to 30%.

The inflation reached a 50-year high level of 31.5% in February but it seems the rulers are not ready to change their habits.

On Jan 11, the PMO wrote that though this office is trying to meet the demands through re-appropriation within the budget, additional funds are still required for the remaining financial year 2022-23.

The Finance Division in November last year conveyed to initiate a case for a supplementary grant of Rs25 million for the approval of ECC.

However, keeping in view of the current additional demands and anticipated budget deficit, an additional budget amounting to Rs75 million is required for smooth functioning of the August House, according to the PM Office documents.

Earlier, the PM had stopped the FBR from purchasing 155 luxury vehicles aimed at giving a positive signal across the government departments. However, his office’s latest action doesn’t go with the spirit of the previous move.