Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday ruled out a significant increase in salaries and pensions for government employees in the next fiscal year, saying no such proposal is under consideration.
Speaking in the National Assembly during the question hour, Aurangzeb also addressed concerns over tax digitalization and remittances, while Commerce Minister Jam Kamal disclosed details of sugar imports, and the Ministry of Finance presented foreign debt figures.
In a written reply, Aurangzeb confirmed that the federal government has no immediate plans to substantially increase salaries, allowances, or pensions for government employees in the upcoming financial year.
Regarding the tenancy ceiling, he said the government is reviewing rent limits for privately owned housing after receiving a revised market survey from the Ministry of Housing and Works.
Crackdown on illegal remittances
Aurangzeb informed lawmakers that Pakistan has intensified efforts to curb illegal money transfers through hawala and hundi networks. He noted that a crackdown was initiated in 2023 during the caretaker government and has continued under the current administration in coordination with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
"Under this policy, exchange companies have been streamlined under one rule. The SBP has increased capital requirements so that only authorized companies can operate. Additionally, 10 banks have been instructed to set up exchange counters,” he said.
As a result, he claimed, informal money transfer channels have declined, and remittances now flow through official channels.
He reported that remittances from overseas Pakistanis reached $30.02 billion in 2023-24 and have increased to $35-36 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
Defending McKinsey’s role
Addressing concerns over hiring McKinsey for tax digitalization, Aurangzeb said the firm was selected transparently from seven contenders.
"The government is bringing reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to simplify processes and restore public trust,” he said, adding that McKinsey will oversee the design and implementation of the reforms.
He emphasized that the Pakistani government is not funding McKinsey’s services, as the Melinda Gates Foundation is fully financing the project. He also highlighted the involvement of NADRA and PRAL in the digitalization efforts.
Sugar imports and foreign debt
Commerce Minister Jam Kamal presented written details on sugar imports, revealing that Pakistan imported 3,140 metric tons of sugar between March 2024 and January 2025 at a cost exceeding $3 million.
He said the imports came from Malaysia, Germany, Thailand, the UAE, the U.S., the UK, Denmark, China, France, Switzerland, South Korea, and India, from which Pakistan imported 50,000 tons of sugar.
The Ministry of Finance also disclosed that as of June 2023, Pakistan’s total foreign debt and liabilities stood at $126.1 billion, equivalent to 43.03% of GDP. The country repaid $11.47 billion in foreign debt in the 2024 fiscal year.
The Ministry of Planning and Development admitted that no new survey has been conducted since 2021 to determine the country’s unemployment rate.
According to the last survey, the unemployment rate stood at 6.3%, with 4.51 million unemployed people and a total workforce of 67.2 million.
In a unanimous decision, the National Assembly approved a resolution to allocate its hall for national security briefings.
The resolution was presented by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.
