Pensions, wages raise notified

The finance ministry notified on Friday a 10% increase in the pensions of the retired public sector employees and fixed the minimum wage at Rs25,000, in accordance with the announcement made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Shairf soon after his election in the National Assembly last week.

The ministry issued two separate notifications, one pertaining to the increase in pensions, and the other about setting the minimum wage of civil servants at Rs25,000. The notifications said that both the increases would apply from April 1, 2022.

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According to the notifications, the increases would also apply to the civil servants paid from the defence budget. It added that no supplementary grant would be released to the ministries and divisions for the increases.

The notification said that the civil servants earning less than Rs25,000 would get the remaining amount in the form of differential allowance, which would be subject to income tax. The differential allowance would not be given to those on deputation abroad or on extraordinary leave.