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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told bureaucrats last week that the sale of helicopters and 34 cars, including BMWs and special purpose vehicles, reflected a "change of heart". Photo:
Islamabad / Karachi: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had the word helicopter on Twitter recently.
Last month, Mr. Khan took a helicopter ride on a nine-mile trip from his hillside home to his official residence in Islamabad. For a new leader who was committed to reducing the benefits of the senior civil service and trying to solve an economy in crisis, the incident was not favorable to Pakistan, who trapped the Prime Minister on social networks .
Khan ran an unrelenting anti-corruption campaign to win an election in July, describing his opponents as looters of Pakistan's coffers and holding them responsible for the country's current economic mess. He is now faced with the same scrutiny of spending the government is trying to find to fund a possible $ 12 billion bailout.
The new government is trying to save small amounts. A fleet of luxury government cars and helicopters are sold, officials no longer receive full meals at meetings, only cookies, and last week eight buffaloes housed in the prime minister's residence were added to the room. Sales.
Deficit targets
But the austerity measures will have only a limited effect. Vaqar Ahmed, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad, estimates that the government can save up to 20% of the annual administrative budget of 221 billion rupees ($ 1.8 billion) through these spending cuts and other.
This compares to a budget deficit estimated by Finance Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday at Rs. 2,900 billion, or 7.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product in June. At a September 17 auction of more than 100 luxury cars used by the prime minister's office, only 61 vehicles were sold, with most buyers complaining that prices were too high, local media reported. .
The government has big problems to deal with. Less than 1% of the country's 200 million people produce tax returns, foreign currency reserves fell by one-third this year to reach less than $ 10 billion, the current account deficit exceeds 5% of GDP and the rupiah 12% against the dollar this year.
While a bailout from the International Monetary Fund is likely, Khan's government is reluctant to seek help from the lender, given the strict conditions attached to the loans. His administration is turning to friendly countries, including China and Saudi Arabia, as possible sources of funding. Khan left for a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
"Symbolic" steps
The spending cuts to date are "symbolic measures, which will not have a significant financial impact on the economy," said Shabbar Zaidi, former provincial finance minister and partner of AF Ferguson & Co., a subsidiary of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Karachi. .
Last week, Khan told Islamabad bureaucrats that the sale of helicopters and 34 cars, including BMWs and special commercial vehicles, reflected a "change of mindset". is not reflected at the top.
Some ministers defended Khan's helicopter ride, claiming it was a practical security measure because a procession encumbered the roads of the capital. When he was in opposition, Khan criticized the convoys and excessive office benefits enjoyed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-President Asif Ali Zardari, claiming that their counterparts in some European countries, such as the Netherlands, rode bicycles.
Security needs
But a procession is not really cheap. Although Khan avoids highways, more than 500 security officials are deployed in three teams on the roads leading to his private Bani Gala residence, spread over approximately 38 hectares.
"They are desperate and are targeting Mr. Khan for these little things because they have nothing else against him," said Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, a member of Khan's party. "There are no budgeted targets for this austerity," he said, even if "it puts you in the right direction not only economically, but professionally as well." ".
With a funding gap of more than $ 12 billion, the austerity measures announced so far are limited and Khan's spending will remain under surveillance.
"There will be controls on him," said Umbreen Javaid, the chair of the Department of Political Science at Punjab University in Lahore. "Khan is going to have a very difficult time."
"This story was published from an agency thread without text modification"
