ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has emphasised the importance of reviewing the existing pay and pension mechanism, allowances, perks, and possibilities of monetisation, in order to have a financially viable solution for the government employees.

The minister stated this, while talking to Pay and Pension Commission Chairperson, Nargis Sethi, who called on him.

Nargis Sethi briefed the finance minister about the working of the Pay and Pension Commission to resolve the issue of burgeoning expenditure as pensions on the government exchequer as well as the anomalies in the pay and pension structure.

During the meeting, the chairperson apprised the finance minister about the working of the sub-committees, and reiterated her commitment for streamlining the prevailing system of pay and pension based on the principles of fairness and transparency.

Sethi is the second chairperson of the Pay and Pension Commission as the federal government constituted it for the second time after April 2020 after the previous chairman of the commission, Rana Abdul Wajid, decided to resign.

In April 2020, the government constituted the Pay and Pension Commission to look into the pension and salary structures of the employees of both the federal and provincial governments as well as the armed forces, and suggest recommendations because increasing pension liabilities have become a serious challenge to the budget.

However, he decided to step down within four months after its constitution.

A senior official of the Finance Ministry, on condition of anonymity, said the government wanted to implement the recommendations of the pay and pension from the next fiscal year (June 2021).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021