The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is facing a shortfall of Rs 2584.775 million in collecting the Provincial Own Receipts (POR) for the current financial year 2008-09 against the target of Rs 7444.202 million. The province has so far received an amount of Rs 2998.377 million against the proportionate of Rs 5585.152 million.
This was told during a meeting held here at the Department of Finance Wednesday with NWFP Minister for Finance, Mohammad Humayun Khan in the chair. Secretary Finance Abdul Samad Khan, Provincial Finance Co-ordinator Syed Akhtar Hussain Shah, SMBR Ahsanullah Khan, Secretary Power Zahur Ahmad Khan Khalil, Secretary Excise and Taxation Sajid Khan Jadoon, SP Traffic Abdur Rashid and other officers of different department attended the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, the NWFP Minister for Finance Engineer Muhammad Humayun Khan has strictly directed all the line departments to ensure 100 per cent recovery of POR in their respective areas, explore new avenues, plug the leakages and identify redundant areas of activities to effectively control unnecessary expenditures so that the saved amount could be utilised on more productive areas.
The finance minister said that each department should establish a task force to make concerted efforts and monitor the progress of the task force on regular basis. He said all the departments should focus on the identification of ways and means to diversify sources of funding like public-private partnerships.
He also directed that all the departments should also focus on the receipt realisation, gear up their efforts to achieve targets and explore more venues to broaden the base of POR unless it would be difficult to achieve the budgeted targets of POR.
He was told that those receipts were targeted in the property and wealth tax, were tax on professional trading and calling, provincial excise, motor vehicle, entertainment tax, hotel tax, tobacco development cess, registration of fee for real estate dealers and collection charges on federal taxes.
The meeting also reviewed the overall bad effects on the POR recovery due to the ongoing military operation and heavy influx of IDPs to many districts and stated that the finance department would provide necessary facilities to the concerned quarters enabling them to ensure better recovery.