Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Monday that there was no proposal in the budget to increase wages for the armed forces more than the civilian government employees and assured that the nation’s defense needs would be fully met. In a media interaction after participating in a seminar, the finance minister also said that India did not leave any stones that had not turned to derail Pakistan’s $ 7 billion package, but it couldn’t succeed. "So far there is no such suggestion" To increase defense wages more than civilian employees, the finance minister said, answering a question. The statement clears the air after the rumors swirled, suggesting that the government was considering a significant increase in wages at the armed forces. The government is considering a proposal to increase wages in the range 6% to 10% due to low -individual inflation rate. While answering another question, Aurangzeb said, no matter what support the government could provide to meet the defense needs would be fully provided. "This is about meeting the country’s needs, not only to meet the needs of the armed forces in Pakistan," he added. The Minister of Finance also talked about malicious Indian designs to stifle Pakistan’s external financing.
"There is huge support from the IMF despite that kind of effort [India made] to derail the IMF program," He said, adding that if there had been shortcomings in the implementation of the program, there would have been some problems. Pakistan’s case was discussed and approved by profits because it met all the quantitative and structural benchmarks, he said. "These are very tense moments. The whole nation has rightly celebrated the way our armed forces and political leadership have risen against aggression," he continued.
"There were no stones that were not reversed in ensuring that the meeting with the IMF is not happening and if the meeting happens, these items are not on the agenda, whether it is the second tranche under the extended fund facility or $ 1.3 billion during resilience and sustainability facility (RSF)," Said the minister.
"However, we are beyond that and our case was discussed and decided on profits."
Aurangzeb said the federal government was preparing to introduce an event organized by Karandaaz Pakistan and Pakistan Bank’s Association (PBA) in Islamabad. "bold measures" In the upcoming budget focusing on strategic direction. "We will bring some bold measures under the budget for FY 2025-26," he said. He said the government rather than to make the mathematics work, the government intended to make the budget document more strategic. The federal budget for FY 2025-26 will be presented on June 10, 2025, and the economic study will be launched one day earlier. For another question about the delay in ending the IMF conversations, the Finance Minister said the IMF negotiations would continue next week almost, but the most important discussions had already taken place. He said the government had also achieved macroeconomic stability "We are scattered" the opportunity. "Because it is easy to get into a sugar rush, ie. pumping liquidity on the market, go to consumer growth," which triggered balance of payments and eg questions, he said. To break away from the boom and bust cycle, Aurangzeb said, Pakistan had to remain the course in terms of structural reforms. He emphasized that the government remained obliged to simplify the tax return process for that grade. He added that 70 to 80% of the employee not necessarily had equity or income portfolios and that they should not be required to fill 150 columns. "We try to bring it down to nine items, five on the 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 do well on the state -owned companies that reform the past year, but hoped that the agenda would be accelerated in the new financial year. He said the Pia transaction had been launched again and expressed optimism around its end. When servicing debt, Aurangzeb said that in the ongoing fiscal service costs for government debt had fallen with RS1 trillion, but said it was not a success when the reduction was due to interest rates. "Next year we will restructure and reorganize the debt management office along modern lines," he said. Aurangzeb named the country’s economy, crossing $ 400 billion marked as a matter of satisfaction. "Our economy has crossed the $ 400 billion level. This shows that we are moving in the right direction"he added. But he argued that Pakistan had to tackle the challenges of 2.6% population growth and climate change to become a $ 3 trillion economy in 2047.
