Pakistan(National Times)- ISLAMABAD: Members of the Senate are likely to get pay raises with their remuneration expected to be made equal to the one approved for members of the National Assembly (MNAs), The News reported on Sunday. Senate finance committee is expected to meet next week during which the panel was likely next week to approve the increase in salaries of Senate members to Rs519,000 from the existing Rs150,000. The development comes after the National Assembly’s Finance Committee, in a rare unity between the treasury and opposition benches, approved a proposal to raise MNAs’ salaries to Rs519,000 per month. However, there would be no increase in the salaries of the speaker and deputy speaker. With parliamentary sources saying that NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has signed the finance committee’s decision, the salary hike which came after a years-long hiatus will become effective from January 1, 2025. Similar to the lower house, salaries of the chairman and deputy chairman of Senate are not likely to increase. Sources say that Senate Finance Committee was initially set to meet on Friday but the session was due to a foreign visit of Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani. On his return, he would convene a committee meeting, in consultation with the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House Ishaq Dar and Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz, the sources added saying that the panel would then seek approval for the increase in salaries of the members. The tweaks in the senators’ remuneration package, like that of the MNAs, would also be effective from January 1.