ISLAMABAD, May 16: President Gen Pervez Musharraf is expected to extend the existing NFC award for another year owing to the inability of provinces to overcome their differences and reach a consensus on horizontal distribution of funds from the divisible pool.

A finance ministry official told Dawn on Monday that the federal government would, however, make adjustment in its budget if the provinces arrived at a consensus after the budget.

The official said the provinces were more engaged in political bickering rather than holding a thorough debate on the issue.

He said as the budget preparations had entered a final stage it was not possible to prepare budget simultaneously on the basis of new award and the existing award.

Provinces were still in touch with each other on the subject but they were unlikely to bridge their differences in the next few days, he said. “If they are unable to reach a consensus on horizontal distribution of resources by the end of current week, we would ask them to prepare their budgets on the basis of existing award,” another official said.