Dozens of retired officials held a protest in Kabul on Monday to criticize unpaid pensions, saying they have not been paid over the past 16 months, Tolo News reported.
The rally was conducted by retirees from military and civil servants of previous governments who said they are faced with severe economic challenges amid brutal cold winter.
The rally members called on the Afghan interim government to pay their pensions.
“It has been around one and a half years since the Islamic Emirate gave us promises to pay our pensions, but we are yet to be paid,” said Zabiullah, a retiree.
The Ministry of Finance said it has prepared a plan for payment of pensions to the retirees and that they are waiting for its approval by relevant authorities.
“We have allocated around four billion Afghanis for the retirees in the (fiscal) budget of the current year. We are waiting for its approval. The payments will be the same as in the past based on accounts and their cards,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance told Tolo news.
Based on statistics by the Ministry of Finance, at least 149,000, including 10,000 women, have not yet received their pensions for the past year.—Afghanistan times
