Pakistan Curbs Spending and Fuel Use as Oil Prices Surge

Pakistan announced a range of measures to curb government spending and steps to save fuel as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts energy supplies, threatening economic stability in the South Asian nation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif outlined more than one dozen austerity measures in a televised address late on Monday, including temporary halting salaries for cabinet ministers, shutting schools and moving to a four-day work week. For the next two months, government expenditure will be reduced by 20% and fuel allocated to vehicles of government departments will be reduced by half, he said.