ISLAMABAD:
The Senate handed over Rs 1.436 billion in savings to the national treasury through an austerity and expenditure rationalization program, surpassing the target prescribed by the Finance Division by 500 percent and setting what officials called a new benchmark in fiscal discipline.
This amount represents 15.9 percent of the upper house’s total budget for 2025-2026, according to a statement released Monday by the Senate Secretariat.
The expenditure rationalization program had been spearheaded by Senate President Yousaf Raza Gilani within his own office before extending it to the entire secretariat. Gilani said the 1.436 billion rupees represented “actual savings achieved” and not projected reductions or deferred liabilities.
Among the measures, the Senate suspended 17 of the 18 public procurement projects approved by its finance committee. Recruitment and other non-essential expenses have been streamlined, administrative costs reduced and operational costs brought under strict control.
The official transport fleet was “substantially grounded”, fuel allocations were “strictly capped” and their use was subject to “enhanced monitoring”.
The provision of refreshments at official meetings and receptions has been halted, while committee work has been “increasingly shifted” to digital and virtual platforms to reduce logistics and hospitality costs. Likewise, all non-essential foreign visits have been suspended in line with the broader objective of containing spending.
Despite an allocation of Rs60 million under the budgetary allocation for new vehicles this year, “not a single vehicle has been purchased”, the statement said. Further, on the President’s suggestion, the Senate Finance Committee decided to waive the allocation for replacement of condemned official vehicles in the next financial year, a move expected to save another Rs 140 million.
“Public service is a sacred fiduciary mission,” Gilani was quoted as saying. He said the austerity drive was not a one-off initiative but part of an ongoing commitment to “responsible governance, fiscal prudence and the highest standards of public service”.
“Every rupee saved is a rupee returned to the people of Pakistan, in whose trust public resources are held,” the president said.
In making the figures public, the upper house said it aimed to promote confidence in state institutions at a time when “economic prudence and the efficient use of public funds are national imperatives.”
“These savings are the cumulative result of sustained reforms and disciplined financial management undertaken over time. By making these figures public, the Senate seeks to promote transparency, accountability and public trust in state institutions,” the statement said.
