The Minister of Finance, Muhammad Aurengzeb, said Monday that there was no proposal in the budget to increase the salaries of the armed forces rather than the employees of the civil government and assured that the needs of defense of the nation would be fully satisfied. In an interaction in the media after attending a seminar, the Minister of Finance also said that India did not leave any stone without moving to derail the package of $ 7 billion of Pakistan, but could not succeed. "So far there is no such proposal" To increase defense wages rather than those of civilian employees, said finance minister, answering a question. The statement clears the air after rumors swirled, suggesting that the government was considering a significant increase in the salaries of the Armed Forces. The government is considering a proposal to increase salaries in the range of 6% to 10% due to the low inflation rate of a single digit. While answering another question, Aurengzeb said that any support that the Government can provide to meet defense needs would be completely provided. "It is about satisfying the needs of the country, not only to meet the needs of Pakistan’s armed forces," Added. The Minister of Finance also talked about malicious Indian designs to drown the external financing of Pakistan.
"There is immense support from the IMF despite the type of efforts. [India made] To derail the IMF program," He said and added that if there had been deficiencies in the implementation of the program, there would have been some problems. The case of Pakistan was discussed and approved by merit, because it complied with all quantitative and structural reference points, he said. "These are very tense moments. The whole nation has correctly celebrated the way in which our armed forces and political leadership have faced aggression," He continued.
"There was no stone without stirring in terms of ensuring that the meeting with the IMF does not happen and if the meeting occurs, these items are not on the agenda, either the second section under the extended fund installation or the $ 1.3 billion under the installation of resistance and sustainability (RSF) ,,)," said the minister.
"However, we are beyond that, and our case was discussed and decided by merit."
Going to an event, organized by the Karandaaz Pakistan and the Association of Banks of Pakistan (PBA) in Islamabad, Aurengzeb said that the federal government was preparing to introduce "bold measurements" in the next budget with an approach in the strategic direction. "We are going to bring some bold measures during the Fiscal Year 2025-26," said. He said that instead of making mathematics work, the government intended to make the budget document more strategic. The federal budget for fiscal year 2025-26 will be presented on June 10, 2025 and the economic survey will be launched a day before. For another question about the delay in concluding the IMF conversations, the Minister of Finance said that IMF conversations would continue next week, but the main discussions had already taken place. He said that the government had also achieved macroeconomic stability in the past, but "We have wasted" The opportunity. "Because it is easy to get into a sugar race, that is, pump liquidity to the market, go for consumption -based growth," That triggered payment balance and FX problems, he said. To separate from the boom and bust cycle, said Aurengzeb, Pakistan needed to maintain the course in terms of structural reforms. He stressed that the government remained committed to simplifying the process of submitting the tax declaration for the wage class. He added that from 70 to 80% of the salaried class did not necessarily have capital or income portfolios and should not be required to fill 150 columns. "We are trying to reduce it to nine articles, five in wealth and four on the income tax side." The minister added that the government wanted to implement a simplified process at the end of September. The Minister of Finance admitted that the Government could not have a good performance in the reform of state companies in the last year, but expected the agenda to accelerate in the new fiscal year. He said that Pia’s transaction had been released again and expressed optimism about its end. In the debt service, Aurengzeb said that in the current fiscal year the cost of the government’s debt service had decreased in RS1 billion, but declared that it was not a success, since the reduction was due to the reduction in interest rates. "Next year, we will restructure and reorganize the office of debt management throughout the modern lines," said. Aurengzeb described the economy of the country that crosses the mark of $ 400 billion as a matter of satisfaction. "Our economy has crossed the level of $ 400 billion. This shows that we are moving in the right direction"He added. But he argued that to become an economy of $ 3 billion by 2047, Pakistan needed to address the challenges of the population growth rate and climate change of 2.6%.
