PESHAWAR, April 18: The NWFP government spent an amount of Rs1.34 billion in pension payment at the close of the first six months of the current financial year, sources told Dawn.
The amount spent appeared to be much less than the figure the province was expected to incur under this head during the first six months of the current financial year.
The provincial government is estimated to spend Rs3.6 billion to meet its pension bill requirements during the financial year 2002-03.
On proportionate basis, expenditures under this head should have settled at around Rs1.8 billion at the close of the first half of the current financial year.
Not only that the amount spent during the first six months remained at a low side, it appeared to be Rs101 million less than the expenditure recorded in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the sources said.
The sources said the province spent Rs1,439 million on account of pension payment during the first six months of the last financial year. The total expenditure at the close of financial year 2001-02 had ended up at Rs2.8 billion — Rs313 million less than the initially projected pension bill for that year.
The sources said though expenditures under the head of pension remained at a low side due to the lengthy procedures involved, it might well touch the Rs3.6 billion mark set in the province’s budget for the financial year 2002-03.
The NWFP’s expenditure on pension payment is increasing at an annual rate of over 10 per cent, registering a sharp growth in the last 12 years.
The pension bill requirements of the province, according to the sources, rose from Rs466.5 million in the financial year 1990-91 to Rs3.6 billion projected for the current financial year — registering an overall growth of 671 per cent during the last 12 years.
Official quarters say the provincial government’s annual pension bill requirements are expected to touch the Rs10 billion mark in 10 to 15 years once the employees inducted in 1988-89 start getting retired after attaining the age of superannuation.