ISLAMABAD: The Federal Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired the 3rd meeting of the 9th National Finance Commission (NFC) here. The meeting was attended by the Members of the Commission namely M/s Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Finance Minister Punjab, Mr. Said Muzaffar Advocate, Finance Minister KPK, Senator Saleem Mandviwala, Member Sindh, Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Member KPK, Dr. Kaiser Bengali, Member Balochistan and Dr. Ali Cheema, Member Punjab.
he meeting was also attended by Federal Finance Secretary, Member/Federal Expert, Chairman, FBR, Additional Finance Secretary (IGF), Joint Secretary/Secretary NFC, Finance Division and the four Provincial Finance Secretaries. The Chairman, NFC Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar welcomed the participants and informed that CCI in its meeting held on 16-12-2016 referred the proposal for creation of National Security Fund (NSF) and allocation for Special Areas i.e. Azad Jammu &Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA, to the NFC for deliberation. He highlighted the extraordinary security situation and measures being taken by the Federal Government. He also explained that though the Federal Government is providing funds to Special Areas, however, their financial needs are increasing year on year.
To further elaborate the proposal, Federal Finance Secretary made presentation on NSF and Special Areas. It was recommended that for NSF and Special Areas, NFC may consider to allocate 3% & 4% of the gross divisible pool respectively. The provincial representatives desired that they should be given time for deliberation and consultations, so that they may come up with appropriate reply to the recommendations, which was accepted. It was also desired that the Federal Government may put forth a complete set of proposals i.e. details and modalities, for use of fund/allocation, particularly related to special areas.The 3rd meeting of the 9th NFC was held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. The Provincial Governments and the Federation agreed to push the process for completing the next NFC Award before the next budget. For this purpose, the Commission agreed to convene next meeting in January, 2017. It was also proposed that, if all provinces agree, the next meeting of the Commission may be convened at Lahore.
