Committee stresses provincial govts’ for effective austerity guidelines implementation

ISLAMABAD, Jun 02 (APP): A committee meeting with Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in the chair, Tuesday, directed the provincial governments to ensure effective implementation of the austerity guidelines in coordination with the federal authorities.

The meeting of the committee for monitoring and implementation of austerity measures was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting was attended by the Ministers for Petroleum, Climate Change, Information, and IT & Telecom; SAPM Finance, SAPM to the DPM; the Secretaries of Commerce, Cabinet, Petroleum, and IT & Telecommunications; as well as senior officials from provincial governments, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release.

The committee reviewed ongoing austerity measures in the context of market closing hours and in view of extended daylight and higher summer temperatures, decided to extend the closing hours as follows:

Shops, markets, malls & general retail: 9:00 PM

Restaurants, cafes & eateries: 11:00 PM (takeaway and delivery services exempt)

Marriage halls & event venues: 10:00 PM (no change in timings)

Essential services (pharmacies, hospitals, fuel stations, IT & telecom-related services): exempt

The committee also considered and approved other matters and cases placed on the agenda.