Fact-check: Officials dismiss claims of Rs12 billion luxury cars purchase for ministers

Online users appear to believe claims that the cabinet recently gave the go-ahead to the federal government to purchase luxury cars worth more than Rs12 billion for its ministers and advisors.

The claim is incorrect.

Claim

“The government is finally taking tough decisions,” wrote a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 3, “As per sources, the federal cabinet has given the approval for buying Rs12 billion worth of luxury cars for its ministers and advisors.”

The post has been viewed over 40,000 times and reposted over 2,800 times, at the time of writing.

The identical text was shared here, here and here.

Fact

The secretary of the federal cabinet and two federal government ministers have dismissed claims of the cabinet approving the purchase of high-end vehicles for ministers.

“This is inaccurate,” Kamran Ali Afzal, the secretary federal cabinet, told Geo Fact Check over the phone, “I oversee the funds for such things and get the required information. I am telling you these [the claims] are false.”

Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the minister for overseas Pakistanis, and Mohsin Raza Naqvi, the minister for interior, also denied that the government has decided to purchase luxury vehicles for the new cabinet.

“It is totally baseless,” Hussain told Geo Fact Check via messages, further adding that he also had the information confirmed from the prime minister’s office. Even Naqvi called the online claims “fake”.

With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal.

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