LAHORE: The Huqooq-i-Khalq Party has strongly rejected the federal budget, claiming it caters to the interests of capitalists while neglecting the common people.

HKP President Farooq Tariq described it as a budget designed to appease the IMF, filled with arbitrary figures and lacking substance.

Tariq criticised the significant increase in allocations for defence and foreign debt repayment, emphasising that employee salaries have not been adjusted adequately to match the current inflation. He expressed disappointment that pensioners were offered only a meager increase, while industrialists and capitalists were granted extensive privileges across various sectors.

APFTU: The working class has welcomed the salary and pension increases for government employees in the federal budget.

Khurshid Ahmad, general secretary of the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions, urged the prime minister and the ministers of finance and economic affairs to also raise the salaries and pensions of employees in public-owned companies like Wapda, as well as those in industrial, banking and media sectors.

He warned that due to the rising cost of living, these employees would be compelled to stage nationwide protests if their salaries were not increased.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2023