President Zardari forms National Economic Council

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari formed the National Economic Council (NEC) with Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif as the chairman and chief ministers of four provinces as members, ARY News reported.

According to a notification issued here, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzaib, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, and Planning and Development Minister Ashan Iqbal have also been notified as members of the NEC.

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz, Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Amin Gandapur, and Balochistan CM Sarfaraz Bugti have also been notified as members.

Besides the CMs, one more representative from each provincial government has been incorporated into the NEC. Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advisor on Finance Muzamil Aslam and Balochistan’s Planning and Development Minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi are also named in the NEC.

The NEC is considered essential for analysing the macroeconomic conditions and development plan for the current year and setting the agenda for the economy and development for the following year.

Meanwhile, The federal government is expected to present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on June 12.

Sources said the government is working on different proposals for salary increases in the range of 10 to 15% for public sector employees in the upcoming budget FY 2024-25.

On the salaries front, the Ministry of Finance wants to raise the salary by just 10%, say sources.

There is another proposal under consideration to jack up monetisation for higher grade officers of grades 20, 21, and 22 in the range of 20 to 25%.

The grade 20 officers have been getting monetisation of cars in the range of Rs67,000 per month, grade 21 officers in range of Rs77,000 per month and grade 22 officers of Rs87,000 per month.