QUETTA, March 31: The provinces have moved closer to a consensus on the National Finance Commission award, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said here on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference after the concluding session of the two-day NFC meeting, he said the provinces had explained their standpoints in a professional manner for the first time.
He said the next NFC meeting would be held in Islamabad. A date for this meeting would be fixed in a couple of days. The finance ministers of all the four provinces - Syed Ehsan Shah, Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak, Syed Sardar Ahmed and Siraj-ul-Haq - were present on the occasion.
Mr Aziz said the Quetta meeting was a success with provinces discussing their points of view in an atmosphere of mutual understanding. He said the provinces and the federal government had for the first time made their positions clear.
This would help bring the five stake-holders closer to developing a consensus on a resource distribution formula. The minister said: "It is our desire that the next budget is prepared on the basis of the new NFC award figures."
He expressed the hope that all issues would be sorted out with consensus in the next meeting, following which the award would be announced. He said the federal government had informed the provinces that it was ready to allocate 46 per cent as their share from the federal divisible pool.
The provinces expressed their views on the centre's offer and insisted that their share be increased to 50 per cent so that they could get more funds for their development projects.
He said he would take up the demand of the provinces at the federal level to ascertain the position of the centre. Any decision in this regard would be conveyed to them soon.
"The federation would see its position on the issue of increasing the share of the provinces and they would be informed about the decision in the next few days," he said.
Mr Aziz said the main issue was horizontal distribution for which resources came from the provinces while vertical distribution would be made without much difficulty.
He said the issues of Gas Development Surcharge (GST) and net hydel profit had come under discussion and the provinces concerned explained their points of view. He expressed the hope that these issues would be resolved through mutual understanding.
He said the provincial finance ministers and other NFC members would present their reports to their respective governments for discussion in their cabinet meetings.
Sindh's Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said that all issues had been discussed in depth and now he would consult his government on the deliberations. "We are heading towards a good decision," Mr Ahmed said. "We are hopeful about the outcome of the next NFC meeting."
He added: "We will take all the decisions in the larger interest of the country." Referring to the Gas Development Surcharge issue, he said the matter was between Sindh and Balochistan and would be resolved soon.
"Negotiations are in progress and we will not disappoint Balochistan," he remarked. Mr Ahmed said that because of a political government being at the helm, the NFC deliberations were vastly publicized and the people got to know all the issues and demands of the provinces. He said political parties had also given useful advice.
Punjab's Finance Minister Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak told reporters that the meeting was useful and the provinces had come closer after the discussions.
"Our differences have narrowed," Mr Dareshak said, adding that the tradition of consensus-building would be maintained. The NWFP's Senior Minister, Mr Siraj-ul-Haq, said that all the provinces concurred on the point that Islamabad should reduce its share and provide 50 per cent resources to the provinces.
He said the attitude of the federal government towards provinces was sympathetic and all the stake-holders were hopeful that they would achieve a good result. "We are hopeful about the outcome and not disappointed," he said.
"I am optimistic about reaching the target in the next NFC meeting," he remarked and lauded the efforts of Mr Aziz to forge a consensus. Balochistan's Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah said his province had submitted its demands and explained its stand. He expressed the hope that the NFC would be successful in announcing an award to the satisfaction of all the provinces.
"We are moving towards consensus and good result of the deliberations," Syed Ehsan Shah said. He said the Quetta meeting had witnessed a lot of progress, adding that the federal government was playing a vital role in removing differences and allaying apprehensions.
