Islamabad grants major bonuses to PM Office employees amid financial woes

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has approved the award of four salaries for the staff working in the Prime Minister’s office just days before he left for Washington to ask the IMF for a fresh bailout package.

The decision to award increased salaries to officers contradicts the idea of austerity and rubs salt into the wounds of people who have to endure a 27% increase in the costs of several essential items and several increases in their power bills.

According to the sources, the officers’ honorariums have been approved for making extra efforts to complete the official tasks. Not even a month into their tenure, the government approved the rewards. The sources said that no extraordinary job has been completed by these officers that could have made them eligible for such rewards.

The prizes will be paid for by taking out bank loans with a 23% interest rate. The prime minister claimed last week that the tea served in his office is likewise purchased with borrowed funds. Nevertheless, he not only gave his approval to the idea of rewarding up to four salaries, but he also requested his finance minister to support it.

Employee salaries in the Prime Minister’s Office are already higher than average. Sources privy to the information said that the finance minister also authorized two salaries as bonuses for PM office employees, ranging from grade 1 to grade 16. This means that in just two months, the officials will have received five salaries in total.

According to the details, Former prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had also granted three salaries as a reward to the employees of the PM Office. Finance czar Aurangzeb took these decisions as the chairman of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.