In a first, Pakistan allocates $3.5 million for health insurance of working journalists

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday announced an allocation of Rs1 billion ($3.5 million) for the health insurance of working journalists in the new budget, confirmed the information minister in a Twitter post.

Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar presented the fiscal plan for the cash-strapped economy with a total outlay of Rs14.46 trillion ($50.4 billion), targeting a 6.5 percent fiscal deficit and allocating around 50 percent to interest payments.

Grappling with a balance of payment crisis, currency depreciation, and record inflation that hit 38 percent in May, the government has set a 3.5 percent GDP growth target in the next financial year, an ambitious figure compared to the 0.29 percent growth rate in the outgoing year.

“Delighted to announce that an allocation has been made in the budget for the health insurance of working journalists,” information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced in a Twitter post.

“For the first time ever, Rs 1 billion has been allocated [for this purpose] in the budget for FY 2023-24.”

Aurangzeb thanked Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and finance minister Dar for taking this “very important measure,” adding it was her goal to arrange this facility for media people, especially in the current economic circumstances.

The Karachi Press Club also appreciated the government’s decision to make the allocation in a statement.

“We thank the prime minister of Pakistan and the federal minister for Information for the step, but the federal government should also take notice of the ongoing layoffs, salary cuts, and non-payment of salaries across the media industries,” it said.

The government has also tried to provide relief to its employees by introducing financial allowances for its officials and increasing the pensions of retired officials.

Dar also announced an increase in the minimum wage of workers living in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, from Rs25,000 to Rs30,000.