Islamabad: The government is considering freezing new recruitments for the next two years in order to tackle the economic crisis accrued in the wake of the nationwide coronavirus outbreak, a news source reported. It is also expected to suspend all employee-related expenditures till 2023.
Reportedly, the government plans to implement this austerity measure through asset recycling, suspended salary and pension increments, and other such concerns. To this effect, PKR 421 billion worth of state pensions are expected to be managed through the establishment of a retirement funds to help raise the country’s savings rate levels.
According to officials, these initiatives will allow the executive to retain expenditures worth nearly 1% of the GDP. To this effect, Former Advisor to the Ministry of Finance Dr Khaqan Najeeb stated that parts of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) will be funded through a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
A number of major projects are expected to be completed on PPP basis during the next fiscal year. These uplift schemes include the Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) as well as Southern Loop III of the Lahore Ring Road (LRR) project.
