Context missing: PM’s foreign trips cost less than 0.005% of federal budget

Repeated questions raised by the opposition on overseas trips by Nawaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD:

When he travels abroad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is accompanied by a large entourage of 349 people, including security personnel, support staff, journalists, and any individuals selected to be part of his delegation. During fiscal year 2014, this entourage cost the national exchequer Rs4.6 million per day, or Rs12,813 per person per day, during the 55 days the prime minister was abroad last year.

These revelations were made in response to a question by Lal Chand, a member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday. The Foreign Office said that the government spent Rs257 million on the prime minister’s foreign trips between taking office in May 2013 and June 2014.



The question of the prime minister’s foreign visits keeps being raised in parliament, even though they constitute less than 0.1% of the total general expenditure of the government, less than 0.01% of total tax revenues raised by the government in a year, and less than 0.005% of the total size of the federal budget. Earlier in the year, the government was asked the same question by the Senate, and the Foreign Office said that between July 2013 and September 2014, the government spent Rs294 million on 16 foreign trips by the prime minister.

Between May 2013 and June 2014, Nawaz embarked on 15 foreign trips: three each to the United States, China and the United Kingdom, two to Turkey and one each to Germany, Iran, Thailand, the Netherlands, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Prime Minister Nawaz’s most costly trip was to the United States in September 2013 with a total price tag of Rs91.6 million. The higher price tag is largely due to the fact that New York is the farthest the prime minister has traveled from Pakistan and because he was visiting during the United Nations General Assembly session, when the cost of security in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world, is unusually high.

The prime minister visited the US again in October 2013, at a cost of Rs35 million. This number contradicts previous disclosures of how much was spent on that trip. On November 27, 2014, the federal government told the Lahore High Court that at least Rs30.7 million was spent on the premier’s trip to New York.

The PM’s trip to China in July 2013 cost Rs26.2 million to the national exchequer while his trip to the United Kingdom in May 2014 cost Rs22.2 million. On both trips, Sharif was accompanying by dozens of officials to discuss several bilateral agreements with these countries. Prime Minister again went to China to attend Boao Economic Forum at a cost of Rs11.7 million last year. The two trips to China were a prelude to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Islamabad, where he announced $46 billion in economic assistance for Pakistan.

The prime minister went to Turkey in September 2013 to enhance strategic relations with Istanbul at a cost of Rs11.9 million. He was travelling with a 32-member delegation.

The federal government spent Rs3.7 on the premier’s visit to Tajikistan, Rs2.6 million on Iran, Rs4.4 million on India, Rs12.2 on the Netherlands, Rs6.9 million on Turkey, Rs1.4 million on Afghanistan, Rs9.7 million on Thailand and Rs11.8 million on Sri Lanka.

Sartaj Aziz, the prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs did not disclose how many gifts Sharif received during his foreign trips. He also did not disclose whether the gifts were deposited with the government’s repository for such gifts. “We are still in process of gathering information, pertaining to these questions,” Aziz informed the House.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2015.