Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said he has requested the army to cut their non-combat expenditure a day after he announced a raft of austerity measures amid a deepening economic crisis.
PM Shehbaz said that the army will inform the Pakistani government about their non-combat expenditure after which a decision will be taken.
Pakistan government on Wednesday announced measures like Cabinet ministers and advisors not drawing salaries and not staying at five-star hotels during foreign trips, as a desperate government attempt to pull the country out of its economic crisis.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the decisions agreed upon in the Cabinet meeting which after a detailed discussion approved the measures to cut official expenditures.
Though the austerity measures announced by Shehbaz affects the cabinet, government officials and officers, the Pakistani PM only requested the army to cut the budget. Shehbaz’s appeal to the army raises questions over whether the Pakistani government has any authority over the Pakistan Army.
“As far as Army is concerned, we have also contacted them and got positive response from them,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told journalists during a press conference on Wednesday.
The fact that the Pakistani prime minister made an appeal to the army reiterates the influence of the army on the decision-making bodies of the country. The ouster of Imran Khan from the PM’s position last year suggest the ways the army maintains an influence over the government.
The Pakistani Prime Minister further said that he had requested the judiciary to cut down expenditure.
“I can only request to the judiciary although government has the power but still I can appeal to them,” he added.
The premier also announced a gross 15 per cent reduction in the current expenditure of each federal government department and urged the provinces to follow the suit and cut expenditures. He also banned the use of luxury cars by cabinet members and imposed several other measures to cut expenditure.
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