Overview
- Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani approved the surrender of Rs265 million to the Finance Division on Friday as part of the government’s austerity program.
- Gilani told the Senate Secretariat to cut non‑essential spending and identify more savings without disrupting lawmaking or oversight work.
- These internal cuts, first ordered on March 17 after the prime minister’s early‑March directives, are expected to trim over half of the Senate’s remaining budget and free Rs700–750 million.
- The Economic Coordination Committee has cleared a Rs100 billion supplementary grant for the prime minister’s austerity fund to support petroleum price subsidies as global energy costs rise.
- Returning unspent allocations to the national exchequer can free cash for fuel subsidies, which can slow price spikes at the pump for families and transporters.