Pakistan, June 3 -- The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved a new policy giving the Finance Minister discretionary powers to grant budget honorariums to government employees. This applies mainly to employees in economic ministries, parliament, and the Prime Minister's Office. The policy removes any upper limit on the number of budget honorariums the minister can approve.

According to the new policy, honorariums will be taxed at a lower rate similar to the monetisation allowance, with only 5% income tax instead of standard rates. The Finance Minister stressed that the discretion is exercised based on recommendations from honorarium committees and financial authorities within mini...