The Council of Ministers, chaired by the President of the Republic, Field Marshal,Omer Al-Bashir, endorsed in its extraordinary meeting yesterday four bills relating to reduction of number of officials assuming constitutional positions in the national commissions.
Following the meeting of the Council of Ministers and endorsement of the four bills, thespokesman of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Omer Mohamed Salih, said in a press statement that the bills related to four commissions where it stipulated reduction of the members of the Constitution Court from nine members to seven members and members of the Council of the Parties from eight to four members and members of the Election Commission from 15 members to eleven members.
Dr. Omer said that the amendment of the draft laws of the budget for the year 2012 included procedures regarding reduction of the spending of the government via restructuring the government at the national and local levels as well as reduction of the numbers of the officials assuming constitutional positions and removing distortions in trading the petroleum products through exemption gradually in order to subsidize the fuels and decreasing the spending in external participations by 25% as well as reduction of the government fuel consumption by 15% and reducing the personal contracts in the civil service by 50%
He noted that some measures have been taken to reduce the burden of living for the citizens by increasing salaries of the employees and pensioners and continuity of support to the commodities of wheat and petroleum and exemption of the medicines and the production inputs from value-added tax (VAT) and reducing the customs imposed on the imported petroleum from 10% to 03%, in addition to exempting wheat and sugar from taxes and fees.