THE issue of a reasonable increase in pay and pension came to limelight once again on Monday when the media quoted Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb as telling the National Assembly that there was no proposal under consideration to hike salaries and pension of the Government employees.
Later, the Finance Ministry came out with a clarification that the Minister did not make any announcement on the floor of the House about revision of the pay scales or increase in the pay and pension in the forthcoming budget.
The Finance Ministry must have its own reasons for issuing a clarification but the fact remains written answers to questions raised by the members of parliament are rightly and legitimately attributed to the concerned minister and the media reported on the matter on the basis of the information contained in the name of the Finance Minister.
There was no need to issue a clarification as proposals for an increase in pay and pension are never considered months in advance because of the delicacies involved and in most of the cases the question of increase and its quantum is decided by the cabinet meeting held hours before presentation of the budget.
However, leaving technicalities aside, the governmental leadership including the Finance Minister himself have been hinting at providing some relief to the salaried class and pensioners in the budget.
Some sort of assurance in this regard was also given to the representatives of the government employees who lodged a strong protest in the federal secretariat a few weeks back.
We have been emphasizing in these columns that the fixed income groups have been forced to downgrade their living standard due to super inflation and previously the government did not compensate them adequately because of financial constraints.
Now the fiscal position of the government has increased, economic indicators have improved and a comprehensive programme is underway to squeeze the size of the government.
Therefore, the government employees and pensioners legitimately expect a reasonable increase in their salaries, allowances and pensions enabling them to lead a respectable life.
As for the issue of revision of the house rent ceiling is concerned, it is overdue and the government is adopting dilly-dallying tactics in fulfilling its pledges vis-a-vis review of the ceiling after every three years.
House rents have gone up during the last few years in line with general inflationary trends as well as the skyrocketing increase in the cost of construction, forcing the employees to make additional payments from their own pockets.
One hopes the issue will not be linked to the next year’s budget and a decision is taken in the interest of the employees.
The Minister also shared with the parliament information about debt liabilities of the country and a quantum increase in home remittances by Overseas Pakistanis.
It should be a matter of concern that as of June 2023, the total foreign debt and liabilities amounted to $126.14 billion, representing 43.03 percent of the GDP.
In comparison, as of June 2018, the total foreign debt and liabilities were $95.237 billion, or 29.05 percent of the GDP.
This shows the external debt of the country witnessed a sharp rise during the tenure of the previous government.
In an encouraging development, the remittances are expected to reach between $35 and 36 billion by the end of the current financial year as against $30.2 billion in 2024.
This is attributable to government measures against illegal money transfers through Hawala and Hundi as several actions were taken in the last quarter of fiscal year 2023 to curb illegal financial practices, including a crackdown on unauthorized money transfer operators and administrative measures to regulate the sector.
As a result, remittances previously routed through illegal channels are now being transferred through formal banking systems, significantly boosting overall inflows.
Remittances are increasing satisfactorily but exports are not picking up despite announcement of different incentives and schemes by the government.
Both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are having interactive sessions with the members of the business community and hopefully a workable strategy would emerge for the purpose.
