Finance Minister to chair 9th NFC Award meeting today

LAHORE: Finance Minister Asad Umar will chair the fifth meeting of 9th National Finance Commission Award here today (Friday) which will be attended by the finance ministers of all the four provinces, and their nominated non-statutory members including Dr Salman Shah, Dr Asad Saeed, Musharraf Rasul, Mehfooz Ali Khan and other officials concerned including FBR chairman to brief about the performance of the six working groups constituted for formulation of the Award.

The meeting will be hosted by Punjab and it will suggest the micro-economic framework and suggest the revenue and expenditures principals for all the members and the federal government.

Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Jawan Bakht Hashim chaired a meeting of the Working Group-I which was attended by the finance secretaries and representatives of all the four provinces. The aim of the meeting was to brief about the report of the Working Group-I to the members and give replies to their objections.

Punjab finance secretary has given a comprehensive briefing to the members about the proposed revenue collection and expenditures under the 9th NFC Award and get their objections. The meeting also reviewed the preparation of the fifth meeting of the 9th NFC Award scheduled today. Addressing the meeting, Jawan Bakht Hashim said initiatives taken by the PTI government practically proved that provincial boundaries were only an administrative division while role of each province was vital for the economic growth and prosperity of Pakistan. He said strong federation was guarantee for the stability of the provinces and the recommendations of the all members in NFC Award were equally important.

He said not a single unit can be held responsible for budget deficit as it was collective responsibility of the system to reduce the budget deficit. He believed that the real issue of Pakistan was irresponsible utilisation of resources instead of unjustified distribution of resources.