Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif intervened Tuesday to change the budget proposal to increase the wages of government employees by 10% at a meeting of the cabinet he chaired for the approval of the federal budget on Tuesday, sources said.
The firm organized a detailed discussion on various budgetary proposals, including remuneration and pensions. During the meeting, Shehbaz rejected a wage increase of 6% proposed, insisting rather on an increase of 10%. The cabinet then approved a 10% increase in wages and a 7% increase in pensions.
Previously, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key partner of the coalition, had required a substantial increase in wages. However, the Minister of Finance, Aurangzeb, argued that the government already extended the maximum possible relief to the ordinary man by the budget.
Addressing the cabinet – live on national television – Shehbaz said that all economic indicators were now stable and satisfactory due to the efforts of the government, the sacrifices of the people and the contributions of the main stakeholders supporting the national economy.
“The ordinary man and the salaried class have made sacrifices,” said the Prime Minister, adding that the employees rightly demanded: they contributed around 400 billion rupees to the national taxes in taxes – how much did the rich paid?
He noted that during the last five quarters, the county had faced difficult conditions and several challenges, stressing that the management of the nation through them was not an easy task. “Pakistan has now reached the take-off point because all key stability indicators are satisfactory,” he said.
