Govt to Take Back Luxury Cars From Ministers, Will Auction Them

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has announced that the government will take back the luxury cars from the ministers as an austerity measure. Addressing a press conference, the premier said that the ministers have taken this step voluntarily. “We will auction these cars like before,” Sharif said.

He added that only one security car would be given to the ministers if needed. Talking about other austerity measures, the prime minister said that all federal ministers would travel in economy class, pay utility bills from their own pockets, and ministers will not stay in five-star hotels during foreign visits.

The government is taking these steps amid an economic crunch due to the devaluation of PKR, so unsuccessful talks with IMF for the next loan, and record-high prices of petroleum goods, to name a few. Due to the unstable economy, the government announced a mini-budget to collect the revenue of Rs. 170 billion. Among other new taxes, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced an increase in General Sales Tax (GST) from 17% to 18%.

As expected, this hiked GST has led to other price hikes by the companies. All the major car assemblers, including Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, and DFSK, have increased their prices. For some companies, this was the third or fourth price since last month, showing how much the situation has worsened. 

Car Price Increase Vs. Cost

Meanwhile, auto parts manufacturers have claimed that car prices have increased much higher than their cost. Giving the example of Suzuki Alto, the manufacturers’ data shows that its price has increased by a huge 128%. In comparison, the auto parts prices were hiked from 33% to 90%, and the Pakistani rupee depreciated against the US dollar by 71%.

The same data shows that the Toyota Altis 1.6L price has gone up by 149% in comparison to only 33% to 90% in parts prices and 71% depreciation of PKR.

What is your take on the government’s decision to take back luxury cars from ministers? Please share your thoughts in the comments section. 

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