March, 31 2005	Thursday	20 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 30: The government will resume efforts next month to develop consensus on the distribution of resources between the centre and the provinces before it convenes a formal meeting of the National Finance Commission.

This was stated by the adviser to the prime minister on finance and revenue, Dr Salman Shah, on Wednesday while talking to journalists after the launching ceremony for the poverty alleviation programme to be funded by the United States Department for Agriculture.

In reply to a question whether the NFC would approve of the resource distribution formula of 50-50 as proposed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said it could only be approved in consensus with all the provinces.

“We follow every directive of the president, but in this case consensus of all the provinces is essential,” he said.

In his speech at the ceremony, Dr Shah said the World Bank had contributed $300 million to the poverty alleviation programme in Pakistan. He said the US was also playing an important role in this regard.

He said the government was following a two-pronged strategy to reduce poverty. He said the government wanted the saving rate to go up in the next 10 years and added that the economic growth should contribute to generating employment. He revealed that the government had created 3 million jobs and would create 1 million more every year.

The adviser said a 25-year plan was under preparation for the development of the energy sector as well as the Second Indus Basin Development Initiative to improve the irrigation system.

He said the second generation reforms were contributing to the institutional development and added that 500 civil servants and executives were being sent to the US and UK for capacity building.