Govt has not stopped salary and pension payments; Ministry of Finance issues clarification

The Ministry of Finance on Saturday evening issued a clarification amid the rumours floating around that the government has instructed to stop payment of pay, pension, etc.

“This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry,” the statement read.

“There are rumours floating around that the government has instructed to stop payment of pay, pension, etc. This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry,” the ministry said.

The statement further mentioned that the AGPR has confirmed that pay and pension have already been processed and will be paid on time. Meanwhile, other payments are being processed as per routine.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also clarified that the “fake news” was being spread to “cause harm to the national economic interests”.

“Kindly refrain from circulating such reports and news without verifying from the concerned ministry,” he urged.

The clarification comes after a report published by The News International claimed that the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) had been told by the finance ministry to “stop clearing all federal ministries and attached department’s bills until further orders”.

“Even the clearance of salary bills has also been stopped,” the report claimed while quoting “top official sources” as saying that “operational cost-related releases faced difficulties mainly because of lingering financial difficulties being faced by the country.”