Skip to main content

President Zardari approves change in 11th NFC members after Balochistan revises nomination

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday approved a change in the constitution of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) after Balochistan revised its nomination, a statement by the president’s secretariat said.

The 11th NFC was constituted on August 22 to prepare a new award for sharing federal divisible resources between the Centre and the provinces.

Chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the NFC includes four provincial finance ministers and four non-statutory members, one from each province.

Its inaugural session, however, was postponed on the request of the Sindh government “due to the impending flood situation”.

As per the statement released today, the change became necessary after the “Government of Balochistan revised its nomination, recommending Mahfooz Ali Khan as its non ex-officio member in the 11th NFC”.

The statement added that the president has given the nod to this nomination, superseding the earlier approval.

The terms of reference set under clause 2 of Article 160 require the 11th NFC to distribute between the federation and provinces the net proceeds of five major tax categories as explained in clause 3 of Article 160.

These include: taxes on income (including corporation tax but excluding salaries paid out of the Federal Consolidated Fund); taxes on the sale and purchase of imported, exported, produced, manufactured, or consumed goods; export duties on cotton and other duties as specified by the president; excise duties; and any other taxes specified by the president.

The notification for the 11th NFC also mandates recommendations on grants-in-aid by the federal government to the provinces, and on the exercise of borrowing powers by both tiers of government.

The new NFC is further tasked with considering sharing of expenditures incurred, or to be incurred, by the federation in respect of matters falling within the provinces’ domain; expenditures on trans-national issues; and financial responsibility for national projects to be shared by both the Centre and provinces.

This apparently indicates the Centre’s intention to push for provincial contributions toward natural calamities, horizontal health programmes, major dams, highways, and motorways. The federal government has also been advocating for an end to population-based incentives, replacing them with social sector performance, along with activation of local governments.

The NFC will also determine grants-in-aid from the Centre to the provinces, set borrowing powers and conditions for both, and assess resources required to meet expenditures of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (erstwhile Fata).



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/nxA7hzC
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more

Global reaction to potential Israel-Hezbollah ‘spiral of violence’

World leaders on Tuesday sounded the alarm over fears of a wider conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in two decades in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds. After nearly a year of cross-border fire since the Gaza offensive erupted, Israeli bombardment on Monday killed 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, according to the country’s health ministry. The toll — the highest since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went to war in mid-2006 — raised fears of an all-out conflict engulfing the Middle East. ‘Tens of thousands’ flee: UN UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said in Geneva. ‘Spiral of violence’: US Israel’s clo...
Post a Comment
Read more