Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Sunday announced the government has decided to abolish 150,000 vacant posts, and also dissolve one ministry and merge two others as part of “rightsizing” measures.
In a press conference from Islamabad, he said the federal cabinet had approved the rightsizing committee’s proposal to scrap 60% of vacant seats to help reduce government expenditures. He also identified that the ministry being dissolved was the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).
Earlier, a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had decided to reduce public sector size and expenses, designating a committee headed by the finance minister to submit its recommendations for the same. According to the briefing compiled by the committee, reforms are required for five ministries: the Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Minister; State and Frontier Regions Ministry; Information Technology and Telecommunication Ministry; Industry and Production Ministry; and the National Health Services Ministry.
Aurangzeb stressed that the rightsizing measures, as well as securing the $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, would bring about economic stability. He said the government was committed to expanding the tax net, lamenting that only 14 percent of retailers were currently registered to pay sales tax.
“We will be forced to block utility services of non-registered people,” he warned, adding the government had ended all tax exemptions. “It is not appropriate to treat taxpayers and non-taxpayers alike. We are left with no option but to expand the tax net,” he added.
He said the government had decided to boost the efficiency of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) through the hiring of 2,000 chartered accountants, adding this would boost its ability to conduct audits.