KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail has given an illogical suggestion to industrialists and exporters to increase the minimum wages of their employees following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement.
In a Twitter message, Miftah Ismail said, “To all my industrialist and exporter friends worried about their wage bill increasing due to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s [announcement regarding] increasing the minimum wage, remember just in two days your market cap has gone up by 5.4% and PM MSS’s govt is here to help you export, grow and earn more.”
To all my industrialist & exporter friends worried about their wage bill increasing due to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s increasing the minimum wage, remember just in two days your market cap has gone up by 5.4% and PM MSS’s govt is here to help you export, grow and earn more.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) April 11, 2022
Economic experts said that Ismail has illogically linked Sharif’s announcement calling to increase the minimum wage by the employers to a volatile stock market situation amid the deteriorated economic situation of the country.
They added that the stock market recorded several ups and downs during the past few days. They questioned how employers could set up criteria to maintain workers’ salaries in the volatile stock markets. They also questioned Ismail whether the employers should have reduced the wages of their employees in case of any downgrade trend in the stock markets.
It may be noted here that Miftah Ismail is likely to be appointed as the new finance minister by the PML-N government.
Prior to his suggestion, the PML-N leader detailed PM Sharif’s announcements in his first speech.
He said that the premier announced a 10% increase in civil and military pensions effective April 1, 2022, that will help the elderly pensioners and also address the disparity in pensions. The premier had also announced that the minimum wage to be raised to Rs 25,000 per month effective April 1 which will allow workers to face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) daunting inflation.
PM Shehbaz Sharif had also requested the employers give a 10% increase to all people making less than Rs 100,000/ month.