No decision yet on pay raise for salaried class: Aurangzeb  

ISLAMABAD: As the next fiscal year’s budget is drawing near, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday said no decision had yet been made on the salaries (pay raise ) of civil and military officials.

At the same time, the finance minister hinted at increase in defence budget, saying the government would provide every assistance to the armed forces.

His remarks came a day after Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government would hike the defence budget.

Addressing a ceremony and later talking to media persons, Aurangzeb said the whole nation, not just the military, required in increase in defence budget increase.

He was referring to the recent Indian aggression, which resulted in a short Pakistan-India war and the rapid changes in geostrategic environment in the region.

The May 7-10 war coincides with the increase in terrorism acts in the western parts of Pakistan, where India promoting proxies to destabilise Pakistan.  

In this scenario, increasing the allocations for military has become a top priority at a time when the ordinary people are also desperate for relief amid shrinking purchasing power.  

Therefore, the salaried classes especially are awaiting a pay raise, after paying a huge chunk of their income as tax.   

IMF PROGRAMME

Aurangzeb also updated the audience on the IMF programme.

He revealed that an attempt was made to derail the programme at the IMF Board meeting by trying to postpone the gathering and Pakistan not being included on the agenda.

Despite these efforts, he said the IMF Board discussed Pakistan’s case on its merit, adding that Islamabad had met all the conditions and targets.

About the recent visit by the IMF mission, the finance minister said the delegation had returned after constructive talks. Pakistan enjoyed the full support of the world’s top financial institution, he added.