Kathmandu, March 7 -- The Pension Management Office has sought an additional Rs25 billion from the finance ministry as the allocated budget will not be enough to pay the retired government employees starting next month.

The government, while unveiling its budget for the current fiscal year, had allocated Rs52 billion. However, according to the office, it will require as much as Rs77 billion to pay to pensioners for the entire fiscal year.

"We sent the request to the finance ministry in early February seeking a fund of additional Rs25 billion," said Bishnu Prasad Kharel, chief of the Pension Management Fund. "We don't have the money to pay the retired staff starting from Chaitra [mid-March]."

Even though the pension burden has been grow...