NEW DELHI: The cash-starved Pakistani government has not been unable to pay salaries to staff deployed at certain diplomatic missions for the past three months amid a dollar liquidity crunch, according to a report.
Press attaches working in US and Hong Kong as well as press counsellors deputed in Singapore have been surviving without salary since June, reported Pakistan-based daily The News International.
According to the report, Pakistan‘s finance ministry has said that the salaries could not be released even for the month of September as the country’s foreign exchange limits have been exhausted.
This would severely impact the officials working in expensive cities in the US, China and Singapore as they would have to survive without salaries for one more month.
“The press attaches working in Washington, DC, and Hong Kong as well as press counsellor deputed in Singapore continue to live without salary from June,” Top official sources told The News International.
This is not the first time that financially-strapped Pakistan has faced hindrances in paying salaries.
In the last financial year (2022-23), the Pakistani government faced a similar issue, but it was tackled by the then finance minister Ishaq Dar, who approved the provision of salaries through the supplementary grant/technical supplementary grant for the employees in the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.
Pakistan’s struggling economy has been deteriorating for several years, causing immense hardship for the poor population due to rampant inflation.
The crisis has been exacerbated by depleting foreign exchange reserves and skyrocketing energy prices.
Though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a long-awaited $3 billion bailout to support Pakistan in avoiding a default on its debt repayments, Islamabad is finding it difficult to implement all the conditions imposed by the lender.
Press attaches working in US and Hong Kong as well as press counsellors deputed in Singapore have been surviving without salary since June, reported Pakistan-based daily The News International.
According to the report, Pakistan‘s finance ministry has said that the salaries could not be released even for the month of September as the country’s foreign exchange limits have been exhausted.
This would severely impact the officials working in expensive cities in the US, China and Singapore as they would have to survive without salaries for one more month.
“The press attaches working in Washington, DC, and Hong Kong as well as press counsellor deputed in Singapore continue to live without salary from June,” Top official sources told The News International.
This is not the first time that financially-strapped Pakistan has faced hindrances in paying salaries.
In the last financial year (2022-23), the Pakistani government faced a similar issue, but it was tackled by the then finance minister Ishaq Dar, who approved the provision of salaries through the supplementary grant/technical supplementary grant for the employees in the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.
Pakistan’s struggling economy has been deteriorating for several years, causing immense hardship for the poor population due to rampant inflation.
The crisis has been exacerbated by depleting foreign exchange reserves and skyrocketing energy prices.
Though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a long-awaited $3 billion bailout to support Pakistan in avoiding a default on its debt repayments, Islamabad is finding it difficult to implement all the conditions imposed by the lender.