Senate Committee Questions Huge Salaries of CEOs at State-Owned Enterprises

The Senate Standing Committee on Commerce has taken notice of a sharp increase in the salaries and perks of senior officials at several state-owned enterprises, with some heads reportedly seeing their pay double in a short period.

During the committee’s recent meeting, chaired by Senator Anusha Rahman, the salaries of some CEOs reportedly doubled within a short span, reaching as high as Rs. 3 million per month.

Members expressed concern over the excessive salaries and perks of top executives at government entities such as the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC).

Official documents revealed that the CEO of NICL, Farmanullah Zarkoon, draws a gross monthly salary of Rs. 3.07 million, while State Life CEO Shoaib Javed Hussain earns over Rs. 3.04 million per month.

Both also receive two government vehicles, security guards, club memberships, 500 litres of petrol, family medical coverage, group insurance, mobile phones, and laptops as part of their benefits.

The documents further showed that the CEO of Pakistan Reinsurance Company receives Rs2.4 million, while the CEO of Pakistan Expo Centres earns Rs. 1.87 million monthly.

The CEO of Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), Syed Rafi Bashir Shah, draws a gross salary of Rs. 873,000 per month, which amounts to Rs. 619,000 after tax deductions.

Committee Chairperson Anusha Rahman questioned the criteria behind such rapid increases, pointing out that in several cases, officers hired at Rs. 500,000 per month had their salaries doubled within six months, ultimately rising to Rs. 2-3 million over the past few years.

She remarked that bonuses worth 10 months’ salary had also been awarded without performance evaluation or achievement of targets, which she termed a violation of good governance standards.

“Such payments should be strictly performance-based,” she asserted, adding that the boards of these organizations must justify how such benefits were approved.

“If the salary is Rs. 3 million, it should be clearly mentioned in the recruitment advertisement,” she added.

She called for amending the SOE Act to curb “unjustified salary inflation” and to limit boards’ discretionary powers in setting executive pay. She also proposed fixing CEO salaries for three years to ensure transparency and consistency.

According to the briefing, NICL’s former CEO drew a monthly salary of Rs. 1.5 million in January 2022, which rose to Rs. 2 million in 2023, Rs. 2.4 million in 2024, and Rs. 2.88 million in 2025.

The Secretary of Commerce, Jawad Paul, informed the committee that a new State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Law had been implemented in January 2023, giving newly constituted autonomous boards of directors the power to determine salaries and benefits of CEOs.

Federal ministries no longer control these boards. He acknowledged, however, that “some institutions, including the SECP and State Bank, are not fully adhering to regulations.”

The Commerce Ministry has since submitted detailed records of eight government companies under its administrative control, listing all CEO salaries and perks, for further scrutiny by the Senate committee.

The committee will continue deliberations on the matter in its next meeting to determine whether these increases were legally and ethically justified.

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The post Senate Committee Questions Huge Salaries of CEOs at State-Owned Enterprises appeared first on ProPakistani.