ISLAMABAD: In a move to curb widespread misuse of the daily allowance facility at the taxpayers’ expense, the Ministry of Finance has restricted payments for senior bureaucrats travelling overseas on foreign invitations.

The civil servants are reported to have been claiming daily allowances in hundreds of dollars, even though they are being paid for or looked after by international agencies, foreign governments, lenders or non-governmental organisations.

The practice has led to a significant drain on public funds.

The finance ministry has also directed the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue and Military Accountant General Offices to direct all account officers to scrutinise the bills in light of the new instructions before making payments.

New measures bar payments to govt officials travelling abroad on sponsored visits

“It has been observed that government officers are drawing Daily Allowance (DA) and other allowances from the public exchequer even for foreign tours/visits and short courses, which are fully funded by foreign governments or international agencies,” said an order issued by the Ministry of Finance, warning that this was “misinterpretation or incorrect application of the applicable rules”.

The ministry’s directive further elaborated that only 30pc of the DA would be permissible for government officials given “state guest” status by their host nation and are provided boarding and lodging.

Government officials attending fully sponsored seminars or training programmes do not qualify as state guests unless expressly declared by the host country, it said.

Secondly, officials travelling abroad to participate in events like training, seminars, international conferences, visits and programmes, where donor agencies or countries cover return air ticket, boarding, lodging and accommodation, are not eligible for the DA under the rules, irrespective of the duration of their stay.

The Ministry of Finance cited regulations from 2005, which permitted partial subsidies for specific short-term obligatory seminars, international conferences and symposiums.

However, “fully funded programmes by the donor agencies and countries are not covered under this policy”, it said.

It explained that government officials were entitled to full DA during the first week, followed by a fixed subsistence allowance for the rest of the training period, where the entire expenses of the training are borne by the government of Pakistan, excluding foreign technical assistance programmes.

The ministry stressed that “where the visit is fully funded, in each case while authorising visits and courses abroad, the relevant ministries and divisions should clearly mention in the notification of approval that the visit will be ‘at no cost to the government’.”

The notification reminded that cases seeking permission to travel abroad to attend trainings, meetings, seminars, etc., be processed by the cabinet division, adhering strictly to existing rules.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2023