The Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tarin, said on Sunday that the government has constituted a Pay and Pension Commission (PPC) for gradual removal of disparities between public and private sector pay structures.
Replying to a question at the post-budget press conference, he said that the Pay and Pension Commission has been constituted to revise the compensation package of public sector employees. He said that the government in the 2009-10 budget has announced an ad hoc relief allowance of 15 percent of pay to serving government servants, keeping in view the change in inflation which he said has been targeted to be 9.5 percent during the current fiscal year.
He said that contract and daily wage employees of government organisations and corporations would also get raise in their salaries in accordance with the relief allowance announced by the government in the budget.
He said that the government also increased allowance of armed forces deployed on the western front equal to one month''s initial basic pay with effect from July 1, 2009,, whereas for the remaining armed forces personnel, allowance equal to one month''s initial basic pay will be admissible from January 1, 2010, in line with presidential announcement.
In the interim period, an ad hoc relief allowance of 15 percent of pay will be allowed which would be withdrawn from December 31, 2009. The Advisor said that average inflation target has been set as 9.5 percent for the current fiscal year.
The inflation would be brought down to 7 and 6 percent during the fiscal year 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively, he added. He said that inflation started to rise steeply and peaked at 25 percent in October 2008. However, through government efforts it declined to 14.4 percent in May, 2009.