No ceremonials or flowers in Putrajaya’s austerity guide for ministries

A circular on mandatory austerity drive for all 37 ministries, following the 2016 Budget recalibration, will be issued and distributed this month. The Finance Ministry's National Budget Office chief deputy director, Mohd Harzi Shah, said with the circular, ministries are required to restructure their departments' spending, taking into consideration various factors including cutting down on ceremonial events and buying flowers for any occasion. "We encourage them to reduce unnecessary expenses. More importantly, the reduction must not affect their service to the people," he told reporters after briefing the public on Budget 2016 at a Johor Information Department event in Johor Baru today. He said this year, the government targeted that all ministries achieve savings of RM7 billion to RM9 billion, due to the economic uncertainty. He added that overdependence on crude oil sales revenue and commodities had created economic vulnerablity as the price of these resources had decreased sharply in the current market. However, he said, the payment of emoluments, pension, salaries and annual salary increment for civil servants would be maintained. – Bernama, February 14, 2016.]]>