THE time for tokenism has long gone. Unless the current government gets serious about introducing and implementing a long-term sustainability plan, the financial pain the nation is being made to suffer now will yield few positive outcomes for the future.

Under pressure to curtail its expenditures, the government is reportedly mulling various measures to ‘right-size’ its footprint. The proposals currently under consideration include merging some ministries, and either collapsing, shutting down, or transferring a total of 28 departments under five identified ministries to the private sector.

Another proposal seeks to consolidate 12 institutions running under these five ministries, while yet another suggestion is to abolish the around 150,000 positions currently lying vacant in the federal government and gradually phase out various posts in grades 1 to 16. Meanwhile, the prime minister is also said to be insisting on shutting down or privatising any state institution “which has not shown adequate performance”.

But the question is, will these measures make any real difference? It may be recalled that PM Shehbaz Sharif has previously announced not one, but two government austerity drives at different points during the last two-odd years. Both failed and have since been quietly shelved.

Meanwhile, the federal government’s total expenditures have more than doubled since the ouster of the PTI government in April 2022. Within the same period, the combined budget for the National Assembly and the Senate has been increased by more than 100pc; from Rs9.9bn in fiscal 2022-23 to a total of Rs19.98bn for this fiscal year. Furthermore, government salaries have been increased by 25pc this year, while additional financial resources of around Rs40bn have been allocated for civil servants in the form of loans and advances. At a time when ordinary citizens have been forced to tighten their belts in extremely painful ways, this profligacy cuts in inexpressible ways.

There is no question that the size of the government needs to be reduced post-haste. However, these efforts need to go beyond mere sound bites. Pakistanis have paid dearly for their government’s inability to run the country within its means. Public debt, which has continued to accumulate at an accelerated rate over the past few years, has seemed not to be as much of a problem for those responsible for its accumulation than for ordinary citizens, who have paid for it in the form of runaway inflation and higher taxes.

The only way to demonstrate a commitment to righting this wrong is by the government cutting its expenditures in meaningful and painful ways. It must take back all unnecessary perks and privileges given to certain categories of public servants, such as free fuel, electricity and air tickets. Austerity should begin at the top. Otherwise, it will be little more than just for show.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2024