KARACHI, July 26: In a long-drawn meeting that ended at dawn on Thursday, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation decided to stop its non-development expenditure to facilitate disbursement of salaries to almost 50 per cent of its staff and make payments to pensioners.

A KMC statement issued after the meeting said that it also decided to curtail the fuel quota and telephone bills of officials.

KMC Administrator Mohammad Hussain Syed said that the corporation could not disburse the salaries and pension to all since the provincial government had not yet released the full amount of the grant — Rs525 million — it was supposed to release under certain heads.

He told the meeting that the finance department had released Rs326 million as the KMC’s share in the octroi and zila tax which enabled the corporation to disburse the salaries of over 50 per cent of its employees.

He said the salaries of employees had been raised by 20 per cent in the current budget due to which the KMC would need an additional Rs125 million to Rs150 million. A request in this regard had been made to the provincial government and a response was awaited, he added. He said that all development and non-development expenditures were being reviewed in the light of the emerging situation. —Staff Reporter