ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar denied a media report on Saturday the government had decided to suspend salaries and pensions of its employees amid an ongoing financial crisis, saying such unverified reports only undermined the country’s economic interests.
A local media report said earlier in the day the finance ministry had ordered the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) not to clear the bills which, among other things, would impact payments to government employees.
“Fake news and spreading the same cause harm to the national economic interests,” Dar said in a Twitter post while sharing a brief statement on the matter by the finance division. “Kindly refrain from circulating such reports/news without verifying [the] same from the concerned ministry!”
The statement by the finance division said rumors were circulating that the government had stopped payments of salaries and pensions to its employees.
“This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry,” it said. “AGPR has confirmed that pay and pension have already been processed and will be paid on time.”
Pakistan is facing a significant economic turmoil amid dollar liquidity crunch and rapid depreciation of national currency.
The situation has even forced the government to impose restrictions on the import of essential items, as it tries to secure external financing from the International Monetary Fund and friendly nations.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a number of austerity measures earlier this week, saying the federal cabinet would forego its salaries and perks under the circumstances to save Pakistan Rs200 billion annually.
