ISLAMABAD: Expressing concerns over the shift of revenues from federal level to the provinces, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Miftah Ismail said on Tuesday that there was a need to revisit the seventh NFC award as it has created a fiscal imbalance.

Talking to a group of journalists in the Press Information Department, Mr Ismail said, “Resources have shifted towards the provinces while the budgetary pressure is faced by the federal government and this has furthered the budget deficit as federal government has higher expenditures.”

Talking about the budget deficit, he said that there was a structural problem in the budget that cannot be fixed easily.

Mr Ismail acknowledged that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) lacked the trust of the business community.

He agreed with media persons that the incumbent government had failed to control corruption and mismanagement in the FBR during its four years in power.

“It was only due to this reason that few thousand traders entered the tax amnesty scheme while we were expecting many more,” he said.

He was confident that there will be no loadshedding of gas for domestic consumers and industrial sector during the coming winter as 1.2 billion cubic feet (BCF) local gas will be available in Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) system and 1.2BCF will be added to it through imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Electricity loadshedding would be eradicated soon as power produced through LNG is 30 to 50 per cent cheaper compared to generation by furnace oil, he added.

He dispelled the impression currently under discussion in the media that there were problems in the LNG deal with Qatar.

Mr Ismail said that LNG deal with Qatar was completely transparent, as he himself had negotiated it along with high powered committee comprising senior officials of different ministries including ministries of petroleum, water and power and finance.

Responding to a query he said the government was ready to share the details of LNG deal with Qatar ‘at any forum and with anyone’.

Mr Ismail simply smiled when asked whether he was going to be the upcoming finance minister.

Mr Ismail talked about the improvements in the economy and lauded the incumbent Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar for creating fiscal space.

The Special Assistant to Prime Minister defended the recent regulatory duties imposed on wide ranging products.

“The move would help control the growing current account deficit, besides also encouraging local industry and discouraging imports of luxury goods,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017