A working group on the National Finance Commission (NFC) tasked to prepare a report on Allocation Efficiency and Expenditure analysis at the Federal and Provincial levels met at a local hotel in Islamabad on Monday with Professor Ibrahim in the chair. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance, Muzaffar Said, Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Federal Joint Secretary for Finance Punjab, Syed Anwar ul Hassan Bukhari for Finance and Finance Secretaries of all the provinces also attended the meeting. It discussed in detail the report presented by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Punjab Finance Minister described it a golden opportunity and added that with the help of this report, the provinces would be able to present their cases for increase in their share of revenue. He also stressed the need for increase in revenue due to the burden on provinces as a result of the 18th Amendment and SDG. The meeting also described the CPEC and National Action Plan as two different issues.
The Federal Secretary on this occasion touched the issue of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa share in the allocation for anti terrorism fund and added that it should be increased from one to five percent. He told the meeting that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has demanded Rs 66 billion under the National Action Plan. He also stressed the need for review of the demands of the provinces in respect of the 18th Amendment and SDG and described it an important report.
He also expressed satisfaction over the recommendations forwarded by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Secretary Finance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Raza Butta on this occasion presented summary of the meeting on this occasion. Professor Muhammad Ibrahim while expressing displeasure over the delay in convening the said meeting said that a member from the Punjab province should be appointed with immediate effect.