Pak President will not take salary during his tenure, citing economic crisis

Islamabad:

Pakistan’s newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday announced that he will not take any salary during his tenure as part of his effort to help the cash-strapped country face challenging economic hardships.

Mr Zardari, 68, who was sworn in as Pakistan’s 14th president on Sunday, decided to encourage prudent financial management and not burden the national exchequer, his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said in a statement on Thursday.

“The President considered it necessary not to put a burden on the national exchequer and preferred to forgo his salary,” the Presidential Secretariat press wing said in a press release on Tuesday.

Former President Arif Alvi used to get Rs 8,46,550 per month, which was fixed by Parliament in 2018. Mr. Zardari is one of the richest politicians of Pakistan.

PPP co-chairman Mr Zardari was sworn in as President of Pakistan for a second term at a ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Sunday.

Separately, following in Zardari’s footsteps, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also decided to forgo his salary while in office, citing economic challenges facing the country.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Naqvi said he was committed to serving the country “in every possible way” in challenging times.

Mr Naqvi said he has decided to forgo his salary during his tenure. “In these challenging times, we are committed to supporting and serving our country in every possible way,” he said in an ex-post.

Debt-ridden Pakistan is struggling with economic pressure and prices of goods are skyrocketing.

The newly elected government needs new loans from the International Monetary Fund on an urgent basis, and its politicians, who are often super-rich, use such tactics to win support from the poor public.

In February last year, the cabinet of then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave up their salaries and other benefits to help the country deal with a possible default on external liabilities.

Addressing the first cabinet meeting after inducting 19 members on Monday, Prime Minister Sharif said the first test of the cash-strapped country’s newly elected government is to control inflation and food prices.

Mr Sharif, who was elected for a second term on Sunday, said bringing inflation under control was the biggest challenge, however, the government would work with provincial administrations to look at ways to manage prices of essential commodities.

“This is our first test,” he said.

Mr Sharif said Pakistan was facing huge challenges and “deep surgery” was needed to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic crisis.

Taking stock of the issues and problems affecting the economy and the country, the Prime Minister asked his Cabinet members to “perform or perish”, adding that the time is “now or never”.

Mr Sharif said that the government should take difficult decisions without wasting time. “Deep surgery is needed because antibiotics will not work,” he said.

He directed to immediately form a committee to control the prices of essential food items.

He stressed that strict action will be taken against unreasonable price rise and profiteering in essential commodities.

Responding to a recommendation from the Commerce Ministry, the Cabinet also approved a ban on export of onions and bananas till the 15th of next month.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)