Finance Ministry tightens belt

Tells Ministries to cut ‘controllable’ expenditure by 20%

The Finance Ministry has told ministries to slash ‘controllable’ spending by 20% and drop other wasteful expenditure, introducing fresh austerity steps amid concerns with breaching the fiscal deficit target for the year following the second COVID-19 wave. Expenditure related to containment of COVID-19 is excluded from the scope of this order. A suggestive list of object heads of controllable expenditure has been shared, that includes advertising and publicity, foreign and domestic travel, office and administrative expenses and overtime allowance. “The government has decided that all ministries take steps to curb wasteful expenditure and aim for a 20% reduction in controllable expenditure,” the Department of Expenditure wrote in a memo, approved by Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan, to all ministries.