Sources indicate that the federal government is likely to further delay the inclusion of armed forces personnel in the contributory pension scheme, with a proposal under consideration to exempt military employees from the scheme in the upcoming budget for 2025-26.
According to insiders, final approval for exempting the armed forces from the contributory pension system will be sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Discussions regarding this proposal are expected to occur during the IMF delegation’s scheduled visit to Pakistan next month.
Initially, plans were in place to bring armed forces employees under the purview of the contributory pension scheme starting from July 1, 2025. However, sources reveal that a comprehensive structure or methodology for their inclusion has not yet been formulated, making its implementation unlikely for the next fiscal year as well.
The contributory pension scheme, which mandates a 10% deduction from an employee’s basic salary supplemented by a 20% contribution from the federal government, has already been implemented for new civil government employees since July of the previous year.
Sources further clarified that the IMF has not imposed any immediate condition for the inclusion of armed forces employees into the scheme, providing the government with some flexibility in its decision-making process
