Islamabad: The FBR’s poor performance in the talks with the IMF was the main point of discussion, the government has indicated an amendment to the Civil Servants Act 1973, including the Golden Handshake for rightsizing.
This amendment can help align the structure of the civil bureaucracy with the army, in which only the best can remain in the job.
The government informed the mission that under the rightsizing plan, 700 posts from grades 17 to 22 and thousands of posts in lower grades are being abolished.
Officials said that in the presence of the Civil Servants Act 1973, suspended government employees cannot be dismissed and such employees have to wait until they reach the retirement age to get rid of them.
The government told the IMF that different departments are being merged with each other. Sources said that the IMF raised questions about the legitimacy of retaining ministries at the federal level, including education and national health, which are provincial departments under the constitution, but the focus of the talks was on revenues, the size of the government and the sovereign wealth fund, which should be in line with IMF proposals.
Sources said that during the talks yesterday, the IMF rejected the FBR’s claims of covering the shortfall in the remaining period of the current fiscal year. On this, the Finance Ministry identified some areas to satisfy the mission where the revenue shortfall can be compensated by reducing expenses.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met the head of the IMF mission yesterday, whose focus was on the new tax target for the current fiscal year.
Officials are hopeful that minor differences on revenue estimates and expected savings will be resolved today. Sources said that the Cabinet Division told the briefing that reducing the size of the government machinery and merging ten small departments will save barely Rs17 billion.
This is not in line with the government’s lofty claims regarding rightsizing. The government has already blown its claims by inducting a new army of ministers, advisors and assistants last week, such as giving the responsibility of the interior ministry to Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Advisor Pervez Khattak and Minister of State Talal Chaudhry.
The appointment of a Minister of State is along with the Health Minister. The IMF suggested that the federal government consider transferring additional employees to the provinces.
