More ‘austerity’

EVER since returning to power, the Shehbaz Sharif government has been pushing an austerity narrative like all previous dispensations. This narrative is mostly built around the announcement of superficial measures and is not backed by concrete policy. Recently, it has notified certain cost-cutting measures. The so-called austerity package contains some cosmetic measures, such as a temporary ban on purchase of cars, machinery and equipment, as well as suspension of publicly-funded medical treatment abroad and “non-essential’ foreign visits by federal government functionaries. If you believe these measures will actually be implemented or slash the burgeoning current expenditures of the government, you are mistaken. These will not even scratch the surface. Such measures are no more than a publicity stunt aimed at appeasing angry voters.