According to the new formula of NFC Award Punjab would get Rs 70 billion more funds from the federation which would be used for welfare of people in the province. Provincial Minister for Finance Tanvir Ashraf Kaira said in an interview here on Thursday. He said that the 7th NFC Award is a landmark in the political history of Pakistan and it will pave the way for "financial autonomy" of the provinces.
He also remarked that this award redressed the grievances of the Balochistan province. The minister said that the federation has agreed to provide additional resources to provinces and their share has been increased from 47.5 percent to 57.5 percent in the Federal Divisible Pool, which is the major shift in vertical revenue sharing, adding that the long-standing demand of the provinces has been met amicably.
He said that Punjab has showed remarkable flexibility to accommodate other provinces, especially Balochistan in the 7th NFC Award. "Punjab has sacrificed its 1.1 percent of its share for Balochistan and according to new NFC formula Balochistan would get 9.1 percent from horizontal distribution and its shares would be enhanced up to 83 billion", he explained.
The minister said that Punjab has made sincere efforts to strengthen the federation by accommodating other provinces. He said that GST on services has now become a provincial subject and the federation would get only one percent collection charges.
He said that the reduction collection charges on GST on services would also help the provinces get additional resources. Kaira reiterated that Punjab played a vital role for developing consensus on the NFC Award and the political leadership of Punjab showed historic flexibility in this regard.
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