Austerity Drive

Pakistan's government will cut back allowances and travel expenses of ministers and advisers as part of an austerity drive that will save it 200 billion rupees ($766 million) a year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said today.

From urging parliamentarians to use their air travel benefits instead of charging the party, to donating Rs 50,000 a year to the party's coffers, the opposition Congress party has announced a range of measures to cut costs and raise funds.

Juggling two mortgages and part-time jobs, Saudi academic Abdullah finally came close to building his own home, but the kingdom's coronavirus-triggered austerity drive has dealt a crushing blow to his dreams.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister on Monday said the kingdom will triple its Value Added Tax (VAT) and halt monthly handout payments to citizens in new austerity measures amid a coronavirus-led economic slump.

Ecuador began counting the cost Monday of 12 days of indigenous protests against fuel hikes that left eight demonstrators dead and severely dented President Lenin Moreno's austerity program.

In an unprecedented voluntary move, Pakistan's military has decided to cut its defence budget for the next fiscal year amid an austerity drive launched by the government to help solve the cash-strapped nation's economic problems.

Pakistan's rupee plunged almost five percent to a record low Friday after what appeared to be a sixth devaluation by the central bank in the past year as the country struggles with an acute balance of payment crisis.

The Pakistani premier's house milked its livestock reserves Thursday as dozens gathered for a buffalo auction in the capital Islamabad, in the latest push for Prime Minister Imran Khan's highly publicised austerity drive.

No government parties, events, functions and workshops of the Uttar Pradesh government will now on be organised in private hotels, an official said today.

Rolling out strict austerity measures, the Uttar Pradesh government has asked its officials to curtail expenses on foreign visits, fly economy class and avoid holding lunch or dinner meetings at five-star hotels.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan got the word helicopter trending on Twitter recently. Khan took a helicopter ride for a nine-mile journey from his hill-side home to his official residence in Islamabad last month. For a new leader who'd pledged to cut the perks of high office and who is trying to fix an economy in crisis, the incident didn't go...

Lower-than-expected sales in an auction of Pakistani government vehicles have dealt another early setback to new Prime Minister Imran Khan's populist vow to raise quick revenues through cost-cutting, a campaign that has drawn both praise and ridicule.

Embarking on an austerity drive,days after the JDS-Congress government announced waiver of loans taken by farmers, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today asked officials to reduce extraneous expenses.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to shake up the hidebound kingdom. He has already announced that women will be permitted to drive, launched an anti-corruption campaign, allowed movie theaters to open next year, imposed budget austerity and revealed expansive ambitions to diversify the economy away from its dependence on oil. A...

Fahad bin Raja sells cars for a living in Saudi Arabia's capital. Abdullah Saeed drives them. In the kingdom's new age of austerity, both men are finding it harder to make ends meet.

Pakistan's government will cut back allowances and travel expenses of ministers and advisers as part of an austerity drive that will save it 200 billion rupees ($766 million) a year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said today.

From urging parliamentarians to use their air travel benefits instead of charging the party, to donating Rs 50,000 a year to the party's coffers, the opposition Congress party has announced a range of measures to cut costs and raise funds.

Juggling two mortgages and part-time jobs, Saudi academic Abdullah finally came close to building his own home, but the kingdom's coronavirus-triggered austerity drive has dealt a crushing blow to his dreams.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister on Monday said the kingdom will triple its Value Added Tax (VAT) and halt monthly handout payments to citizens in new austerity measures amid a coronavirus-led economic slump.

Ecuador began counting the cost Monday of 12 days of indigenous protests against fuel hikes that left eight demonstrators dead and severely dented President Lenin Moreno's austerity program.

In an unprecedented voluntary move, Pakistan's military has decided to cut its defence budget for the next fiscal year amid an austerity drive launched by the government to help solve the cash-strapped nation's economic problems.

Pakistan's rupee plunged almost five percent to a record low Friday after what appeared to be a sixth devaluation by the central bank in the past year as the country struggles with an acute balance of payment crisis.

The Pakistani premier's house milked its livestock reserves Thursday as dozens gathered for a buffalo auction in the capital Islamabad, in the latest push for Prime Minister Imran Khan's highly publicised austerity drive.

No government parties, events, functions and workshops of the Uttar Pradesh government will now on be organised in private hotels, an official said today.

Rolling out strict austerity measures, the Uttar Pradesh government has asked its officials to curtail expenses on foreign visits, fly economy class and avoid holding lunch or dinner meetings at five-star hotels.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan got the word helicopter trending on Twitter recently. Khan took a helicopter ride for a nine-mile journey from his hill-side home to his official residence in Islamabad last month. For a new leader who'd pledged to cut the perks of high office and who is trying to fix an economy in crisis, the incident didn't go...

Lower-than-expected sales in an auction of Pakistani government vehicles have dealt another early setback to new Prime Minister Imran Khan's populist vow to raise quick revenues through cost-cutting, a campaign that has drawn both praise and ridicule.

Embarking on an austerity drive,days after the JDS-Congress government announced waiver of loans taken by farmers, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today asked officials to reduce extraneous expenses.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to shake up the hidebound kingdom. He has already announced that women will be permitted to drive, launched an anti-corruption campaign, allowed movie theaters to open next year, imposed budget austerity and revealed expansive ambitions to diversify the economy away from its dependence on oil. A...

Fahad bin Raja sells cars for a living in Saudi Arabia's capital. Abdullah Saeed drives them. In the kingdom's new age of austerity, both men are finding it harder to make ends meet.