Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is personally monitoring the right-sizing of the federal government, a press release issued by his office on Sunday quoted him as saying. The premier said in the statement that his government had undertaken various reforms, the results of which would be visible in the coming future. He said that among these reforms is the right-sizing of the federal government, which he is monitoring himself. The government has been recently trying to right-size various departments and agencies under ministries to improve their efficiency and to cut down on expenditure. This move is meant to improve governance and is being carried out in phases.
Recently, the abolition and merger of 82 departments and agencies was approved by the federal government. According to the plan, these departments, which are currently under six federal ministries and visions, would be accommodated into 40 different entities. Smart management, transparency, and digitalization would also accompany this move. Moreover, in a bid to curtail unnecessary expenditures, the government also banned its departments from buying new vehicles and equipment, recruiting more people, and visiting foreign states at the expense of the public treasury.
The reforms committee tasked to furnish recommendations to right-size the government departments suggested that the government eliminate vacant positions, which currently amount to 150,000. The committee also suggested that janitorial duties and other related jobs could be outsourced to reduce pressure on the national exchequer. Previous governments have hesitated to slash vacancies due to the audience cost associated with this move. The public sector is deemed as one of the most economically stable sectors and any reduction in government jobs is poised to be deemed unpopular by the masses. Similarly, the janitorial jobs too are in demand, particularly by poorer segments of the society, who find this job to be more secure than daily wage work.
In his statement on Sunday, the premier expressed satisfaction over decreasing inflation in the country and welcomed the predictions in this regard. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Consumer Price Index fell to 11 percent in the month of July, which is the lowest in a long time. PM Shehbaz took the moment to highlight how this too is another positive indicator of the government’s performance, with the previous one being Moody’s upgradation of Pakistan’s credit rating. He said that all of this was possible due to the hard work of his government, which was working day and night to resolve the issues of the people.
He also highlighted how the governments led by his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Center and Punjab were focusing on providing relief to the people, particularly through relief in electricity bills and the reduction in petroleum prices. He added that benefitting the common man directly was one of the goals of the incumbent government.
Revenue collection
Besides inflation, there are other indicators that seem promising as well. The revenue collected by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in the first two months of the current fiscal year amounts to Rs1,588 billion, whereas its target was Rs1,554 billion. After issuing refunds of Rs132 billion, the net revenue stood at Rs1,456 billion. While domestic taxes have been amply collected, the tax department could not do the same on imports as they were declining. In USD terms, imports decreased by 2.2 percent in August 2024 on year-on-year basis, whereas they decreased by 7 percent in PKR terms. The government has been taking reforms to digitalize the tax department. The prime minister and the finance minister have been taking a keen interest in this area. Moreover, the FBR is also working on its end to undertake reforms to facilitate businesses in the country.