The Ministry of Finance on Thursday clarified that recent media reports on civil government expenditure lacked proper context, resulting in what it described as a misleading portrayal of federal spending trends.
In a statement, the ministry said the overall increase in civil government expenditure was 12.5%, adding that a major share of the rise stemmed from employee compensation adjustments announced in the budget and allocations for key public health initiatives, particularly the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
“Certain media reports regarding civil government expenditure have presented aggregate figures without necessary context, thereby creating a misleading impression about the nature and scale of federal spending,” the ministry said.
According to the statement, civil government expenditure during the first nine months of FY2024-25 stood at Rs559 billion, including Rs388 billion in employee-related expenses and Rs171 billion in non-employee expenditure.
For the same period in FY2025-26, expenditure increased to Rs629 billion, comprising Rs427 billion in employee-related spending and Rs202 billion in non-employee expenditure.
The ministry noted that employee-related expenditure rose by around 10%, mainly due to salary and pay raises announced in the federal budget.
It further stated that non-employee expenditure increased by Rs31 billion, from Rs171 billion to Rs202 billion. However, Rs29 billion of this amount was allocated to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) during the current fiscal year.
“Therefore, after adjusting for the EPI allocation, the actual increase in non-employee-related expenditure is only around Rs2 billion,” the ministry added.
“The presentation of expenditure figures without highlighting these essential components and public welfare allocations does not provide a complete or accurate picture of government spending trends.”
