More austerity: government suspends vehicle purchase, meeting honorariums

The government has put a moratorium on the purchase of transport and honorariums for project meetings as part of its austerity measures amid a global economic crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 July 2022, 03:56 PM
Updated : 3 July 2022, 03:56 PM

As the war grinds on for months amid the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, many economists fear a global recession is unavoidable with inflation hitting new highs.

Bangladesh is facing the heat as well. Prices of commodities and import costs have skyrocketed, putting pressure on the households and the government’s foreign exchange reserves.

The government has ordered a series of steps to avoid an economic crisis like the one Sri Lanka is facing now. The government earlier halted projects that are not immediately necessary, stopped official overseas tours of its employees and raised taxes to discourage the import of luxurious products.

In a notice on Sunday, the finance ministry said government, semi-government, autonomous, statutory, state-run and state-owned organisations cannot spend on honorariums for meetings of projects being implemented with funds from the development budget or their own funds.

No transports – vehicles, vessels and aircraft – can be purchased for use anew or as a replacement.

A maximum of 50 percent of the funds allocated for reception, travel, computers and accessories, electric equipment, furniture and stationery can be spent only for emergency reasons.