Provinces to get Rs2,136 bn after 15.3pc rise in their federal taxes share

ISLAMABAD: The provinces will get Rs2,136 billion in the new fiscal year of 2016-17 from their share in federal revenues, which is a 15.3 percent increase in the share of the provinces from federal taxes.

Shedding light on estimates of revenues and expenditures of the next budget, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said gross revenues receipts for 2016-17 are estimated at Rs4,915 billion, compared to the revised figures of Rs4,332 billion for 2015-16.

The share of provincial governments, out of these taxes, will be Rs2,136 billion. For the year 2016-17, net resources left with the federal government will be Rs2,781 billion compared to the revised estimates of Rs2,481 billion for 2015-16, showing an increase of 12.1%.

The federal government recognises that the provincial governments have increased responsibilities of social sector services delivery under the new arrangements, therefore the federal government is constantly raising the level of provincial transfers to enable them to improve the social services and law and order for the people of Pakistan.

In accordance with the framework for distribution of resources structured by the 7th NFC Award, the net transfers to the provinces are Rs2,210.021 billion in the budget estimates 2016-17 and these transfers were estimated at Rs1,938.173 billion in the budget estimates 2015-16 and Rs 1,916.806 billion in revised estimates 2015-16.

Though for the ongoing fiscal year of 2015-16, the government has allocated Rs1,849.384 billion yet in the revised estimates for the fiscal year the provincial governments will gets Rs1,851.946 billion that shows a increase of Rs 2.5 billion transfers to the provinces .

Punjab stands to get Rs1,045.013 billion, Sindh Rs547 billion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Rs346.184 billion (including one percent for war on terror) and Balochistan Rs196.84 billion in the new fiscal year of 2016-17.

The provinces agreed on sharing divisible pool under the National Finance Commission Award that will take place on the basis of 82 percent population, 10.3 percent poverty and backwardness, five percent on revenue collection/generation and 2.7 percent on inverse population density.

One percent of the net proceeds of the divisible pool would be assigned to the government of Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa to meet the expenses on the war on terror.

The Federal Budget 2015-16 document also revealed that according to the Seventh NFC Award, the provinces would be transferred Rs2,044 billion from the federal divisible pool of taxes against the revised transfer of Rs1,751.517 billion of the ongoing fiscal year.