The minimum pension fund has been increased to PKR 5250 by the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI). The pension fund has been increased by 46%, which means that originally the fund was PKR 3,600 and now it has been increased to PKR 5,250 per month. The increment will be effective from 1st April, 2015. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the new pension will be applicable from 1st May, 2015.
Initially, the government had announced in the budget of 2014-15 that the EOBI pension fund will be increased to PKR 6000. About 337,000 pensioners will benefit from this new increment. From these, 52% pensioners belong to Punjab followed by 31% in Sindh, 13% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 4% from Balochistan. The amount will be raised through special grant and would imply PKR 6.67 billion on the exchequer.[junkie-alert style=”white”] The pension fund has been increased by 46%, which means that originally the fund was PKR 3,600 and now it has been increased to PKR 5,250 per month. [/junkie-alert]
The total number of EOBI’s registered pensioners is 525,000 but there are only 360,000 people who regularly receive their pensions, according to EOBI chairman Mohammad Sualeh Faruqui. a report on the strengthening of the EOBI had been finalized and its recommendations would be made public soon. The EOBI could be jointly run by the provinces. The International Monetary Fund would start seventh review of its programme for Pakistan in the first week of May in Dubai. “We have achieved most of the targets regarding major economic indicators,” stated Ishaq Dar, adding that his ministry had completed preparations for the review which would be held on May 1 to 10.