ISLAMABAD, May 24: President Pervez Musharraf is unlikely to make any move to end the National Finance Commission (NFC) award deadlock in view of the 'inflexible stand' taken by the provinces during a meeting with Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali here on Sunday.

Official sources told Dawn here on Monday that the president has been briefed on the issue by senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and informed that the "centre cannot afford" to offer more than 47.4 per cent to provinces from the divisible pool.

The president was told that Sunday's meeting had failed to forge a consensus because the provinces had been "moving their goal-posts" and the centre was left with no option but to formulate the new budget on the basis of the existing NFC award.

The sources said that the prime minister might 'unofficially' meet the chief ministers again on his return from Saudi Arabia to make a last-ditch effort to work out a formula acceptable to everyone.

Answering a question about a request made by the provinces, through press statements, to the president to convene a meeting to resolve the issue, the sources said that the offer to increase the provinces' share from 37.5 per cent to 47 per cent had in fact been made at the behest of President Pervez Musharraf.

"Therefore, we don't see any point in the president pursuing the issue," he said. The sources also said that the government was unlikely to offer any relief to people because of non-availability of sufficient funds.

Even the much talked about raise in the pay-scale of government employees may not come because funds are needed for infrastructure development and water-related projects in the 2004-05 year.

The discontinuation of $850 million annual Saudi Oil Facility in October 2003, the sources said, was causing problems in extending any tangible relief to people in the new budget.

"The issue of increasing the salaries of government employees was perhaps under consideration but the finance ministry has informed the higher authorities that pay rise is a difficult proposition under the circumstances."

The sources also said that except for a reduction in the electricity tariff, it might not be possible for the government to consider any other relief, not even a Rs1 reduction in the price of wheat flour.

The sources said that the government needed roughly Rs55 billion to Rs60 billion for the ongoing 20 water and power development projects from the proposed Rs195 billion to Rs200 billion Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) that was being finalized for the next financial year.