Rs1.014tr allocated for pensions

The federal government had allocated Rs821 billion for the pensions of retired government employees

By Fakhar Durrani

June 13, 2024

In this file photo, a woman in a face mask counts rupee notes as she walks on a street in Islamabad on April 9, 2020. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: The government has allocated Rs1,014 billion for the pensions of federal government employees for fiscal year 2024-25, of which Rs662 billion (65.28 percent) would go to the retired armed forces personnel and Rs220 billion (21.69 percent) to civilians.

The budget allocation for the pension of retired government employees (civilian and armed forces) has been increased from Rs821 billion in 2023-24 to Rs1,014 billion for the budget year 2024-25).

The federal government had allocated Rs821 billion for the pensions of retired government employees during the fiscal year 2023-24, of which Rs582 billion were allocated for the retired armed forces personnel whereas Rs228 billion were allocated for the retired civilian employees.

During the fiscal year 2022-23, the government allocated Rs609 billion for the pensions out of which Rs162.62 billion were allocated for the civilian retired employees. The budget allocation for the pensions of retired armed forces personnel for fiscal year 2022-23 was Rs446.37 billion. However, it has been observed that the pension allocation has been revised in almost every fiscal year.

Similarly, the total amount allocated for the retired civilian employees of the federal government for fiscal year 2021-22 was Rs131 billion. Whereas, the budget allocation for the pensions of retired armed forces personnel for fiscal year 2021-22 was Rs394 billion. For the fiscal year 2020-21, the government had allocated Rs480 billion for the pensions of federal government employees out of which Rs369 billion was spent on the pensions of retired armed forces personnel and Rs111 billion on civilians.

Earlier, the federal government had allocated Rs421 billion for the pensions of retired employees for fiscal year 2019-20. However, it was revised from Rs421 billion to Rs463.41 billion in 2019-20.

Similarly, the government had allocated Rs342 billion for the pension of retired employees during the fiscal year 2018-19, out of which Rs259 billion (75.95 percent) was allocated for the defence forces employees whereas the remaining Rs82.22 billion (24.05 percent) was given to civilian retired employees.