A high-powered committee, constituted by the Prime Minister for submitting recommendations to curtail government expenditures and cut government's size, has recommended closing, merger or handing over some government departments to the provinces.

It was informed at a high level meeting of the committee held in Islamabad toady with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

The committee headed by Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission and comprising Federal Cabinet, Establishment and Power Secretaries, Dr Qaiser Bangali, Dr Farrukh Saleem and Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar, presented the report to the Prime Minister in the meeting. 

The Committee presented short and medium-term recommendations containing introducing a contributory pension mechanism for newly-appointed employees, and abolishing vacancies lying vacant for over a year.

The committee suggested to engage private sector for service delivery in the government departments, besides banning unnecessary travel of government officials to cut expenditures by promoting teleconferencing.

The committee also recommended withdrawal of official vehicles from the officers availing the monetization facility.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the committee to submit concrete proposals after analyzing the best practices across the world.

He expressed the hope that billions of rupees of the national exchequer would be saved in the light of recommendations of the high-powered committee.