Senate finance committee calls for maximum economy
By Saad Saud

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Finance Committee has underlined the need to continue to incur expenditures within the prescribed budget limits and called for maximum possible economy in day to day expenditures for future budgets.
The senate finance committee met in the Parliament House here Tuesday. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Mohammedmian Soomro, Chairman Senate. The Committee underlined the need to continue to incur expenditures within the prescribed budget limits and called for maximum possible economy in day to day expenditures for future budgets.
Chairman Senate, Mr. Mohammedmian Soomro, in his opening remarks stated that the Senate Finance Committee, being a Constitutional Committee is effectively playing its role as a monitoring body. He said that we should be self-critical and opt for austerity while spending the public money and it was in this spirit that the expenditures of the Senate Secretariat were kept within the authorized appropriations this year too and no supplementary budget was demanded. The Chairman further said that, keeping in view the serious challenges confronting the economy, the Secretariat has decided to freeze the non salary budgetary demands to that of last year. Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Ishaq Dar appreciated the Committee's gesture to freeze the budgetary demands of the Secretariat to that of last year and expressed the hope that the Secretariat would serve as a role model for other institutions. The Minister re-affirmed government's commitment to respect the supremacy of the Parliament. He said that the Senate Finance Committee is a Constitutional body and the Finance Ministry is bound to honour its decisions. Senator Ishaq Dar and Senator Ahmed Ali announced a personal donation of Rs. 500,000 and Rs. 100, 000 respectively to the Senate Secretariat Employees Welfare Fund.
The Committee accorded unanimous approval to the miscellaneous expenditures incurred by the Senate Secretariat on various accounts. On a proposal by Senator Razina Alam Khan, the Committee decided to include Senators Kamil Ali Agha and Ahmed Ali in the Sub-Committee constituted earlier to review and recommend avenues of administrative restructuring for various posts particularly the posts held by the low paid employees of the Senate Secretariat. This could also provide promotion opportunities. The Committee unanimously approved certain amendments proposed in the Senate Secretariat Employees Welfare Fund Rules, 1990.
The meeting was attended, besides Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Deputy Chairman Senate and Federal Minister for Finance, Mr. Ishaq Dar by Senators Mr. Wasim Sajjad, Justice (R) Abdul Razzaq A. Thahim, Mrs. Razina Alam Khan, Mrs. Rukhsana Zuberi, Mr. Kamil Ali Agha, Secretary Senate Raja Muhammad Amin, Secretary Finance and other senior functionaries of the Ministry of Finance and the Senate Secretariat.