[Update] Withdrawal of Tax on SMS

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has agreed to give a 20-percent salary raise to government employees, sources in the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said on Friday. During a meeting with an MQM delegation led by Overseas Pakistanis’ Minister Farooq Sattar, the prime minister is also said to have agreed to a 20-percent raise in pensions and the withdrawal of a 20-paisa tax on the short messaging service (SMS), sources said. They said the prime minister had also assured the delegation that the subsidy on electricity would be abolished in phases. Gilani hoped that the measures taken in the budget 2009-10 would provide relief to the people. Finance Adviser Shaukat Tareen and State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar were also present on the occasion.