Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Friday proposed 30-35 percent increase in the salaries on ad-hoc basis and 17.5 percent enhancement in the pensions of the Federal Government employees, realizing their financial hardships due to the increased inflation. Presenting the Federal Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, the minister said the government had decided to give 35 percent ad-hoc relief in the salaries of employees from Grade1-16 and 30 percent to Grade-17-22 employees aimed at increasing their purchase power. He also announced increasing the minimum pension fixing it at Rs 12,000 and minimum monthly wage from Rs 25,000 to Rs 32,000 within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The minister said there was a proposal to enhance the pension of Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) from Rs 8,500 to Rs10,000. Ishaq Dar said the government was going to introduce a scheme under which it would itself pay up to Rs 1 million loans of the Housing Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) owed by the widows of government employees. The minister said the deposit limit of CDNS (Central Directorate of National Savings) Shuhada Account and Behbood Saving Certificates would be increased from Rs 5 million to Rs 7.5 million.