LAHORE: The Government of Punjab announced a tender notification for the lease of an executive jet. The tender was announced on Wednesday 15 December with the bidding set to end at 3 PM on 30th December. The tender comes two days after Mohsin Leghari, Punjab Finance Minister, announced that the Government of Punjab had been denied of its rightful Rs 176.4 billion by the Federal Government.
The tender outlines the jet to be leased as a super mid-sized executive jet no older than 2016 that can accommodate eight to ten passengers at a time. The tender also requests the jet to come with a complete air crew. The jet will be leased by the Punjab Government for a total of three months or 50 fifty hours.
The timing of the tender reflects poorly as it comes not only when the Government has decried the Centre for withholding funds, but has also brought the Public Finance Management Act (2022) into effect to improve its fiscal management and increase its fiscal space.
It is prudent to highlight that the Punjab Finance Department announced last month on November 18 that it would be enacting austerity measures to observe ‘financial discipline’. The austerity measures included a sweeping set of limitations on both the activities of the provincial government and the money that it could disperse for personal expenses.
Furthermore, the Federal Government is expected to announce a national contingency energy-saving plan in the coming days in collaboration with the provinces to reduce Pakistan’s forex outflow. One of the key items that this contingency plan seeks to eliminate is Pakistan’s overall fuel expenditure.
peoples are dyeing daily with hunger. You can check daily long rows in front of utilities stores they are buying private jet wa…wa…
Why does Punjab government need a private jet?
The Punjab CM does like to intermingle with the common folk, nor see them standing on roads. With all the pollution he has to suffer, and the traffic jams he had to endure, in his wisdom he has decided that a jet, though uncomfortable, will have to do.
Unfortunately, his first choice, the Concorde has been retired!