Govt claims transferring Rs275.2b to provinces

ISLAMABAD: The Center on Thursday claimed that they transferred Rs275.2 billion in first half of the current

fiscal year against Rs251.5 billion, indicating a growth of 9.4 percent.

Under the arrangements placed through NFC the share of provinces cannot be reduced out of total federal divisible pool (FDP). As the FBR is facing the tax shortfall of Rs158 billion in first half of the current fiscal year so the projected revenue share of all provinces also reduced because the FDP also got reduced, said the sources.

Now the reconstitution of NFC has already been done and official summary has been moved for convening maiden session of NFC any time in near future.

However, according to Finance Ministry’s statement issued here on Thursday that in the first half of FY 2017-18, FBR reported a collection of Rs1845.3 billion (inclusive of arrears of previous year). During the same period of current financial year, FBR reported collection of taxes as Rs2011.4 billion (inclusive of arrears of previous year).

The share transferred to Sindh province during the same period of last financial year was Rs251.5 billion and during the current financial year it is Rs275.2 billion showing a growth of 9.4%.

It is evident that the transfers in both absolute and percentage terms have increased. It is further clarified that the federal government immediately transfers the share of all the provinces as per the NFC formula, based on the revenue collection reported by the FBR.