Govt to hire highly paid professionals to strengthen Debt Office

ISLAMABAD: The government has approved a multi-million rupees project to strengthen its Debt Policy Coordination Office (DPCO) by hiring professionals on reasonably good pay and package outside the routine of MP scales.

Once the MP-I, MP-II and MP-III scales were considered hefty packages but now technocrats having professional skills do not feel any attraction in it so the Ministry of Finance has finds out a way to offer per day package to these upcoming directors, researchers and economists working for the DPCO. 

“The minimum average salary will cross Rs0.3 million per month because no one is ready to work under the routine of MP-II or MP-III packages,” said one top official of Finance Ministry here Sunday.

For strengthening of the DPCO, the World Bank (WB) has also agreed to provide grants amount worth $1.53 million.

When this correspondent contacted spokesperson of WB here in Islamabad and inquired her about plan of the Bank for providing grant assistance, she said in a written reply that the World Bank is providing technical assistance for strengthening of Debt Office.

“It is part of an ongoing support that the Bank provides to different government departments,” she said.

The government, the sources said, had also declined offer of assistance from certain bilateral donors because Islamabad does not want to share its secret information with any irrelevant forum or country. At a time when Pakistan’s public debt has crossed Rs23 trillion mark, the government is in the process of hiring experts at different important positions.

Interestingly, in the aftermath of enactment of Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act (FRDLA), which was initially approved by the Parliament in 2005, no rules of business were devised to run the office of the DPCO under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance during last 10 years. Now the rules of business are under preparation in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and Establishment Division.

The government plans to hire two directors, senior economists, researchers and 15 to 20 supporting staff. So far the Debt Office was largely ignored since its inception as it was not run on professional lines.

The government had recruited a DG to lead the DPCO and build capacity by hiring and/or training additional staff with the help of international partners; and will take steps to strengthen front office management of debt issuance both in domestic and external markets by arranging a formal linkage with the DPCO and executing and communicating the borrowing auctions with the SBP being the agent, and strengthening the primary dealership system.