ON BOARD PRESIDENT’S PLANE, June 5: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that provincial finance commissions awards are being finalized to offer additional Rs34 billion to the provinces in the next budget.

Talking to reporters on way to Islamabad from Almaty on Tuesday evening in his special plane, the president said that imposition of 2.5 per cent additional General Sales Tax would be allowed to the provinces in the next budget so as to ensure financial devolution from provinces to districts.

“The Centre is today financially comfortable after having received generous external financial support, including rescheduling of loans by the Paris Club and now we must pass on this relief to provinces as well,” he added.

The president said that the new provincial finance commission awards would be formulated in such a manner that the financial difficulties of the provinces could satisfactorily be removed. He regretted that the Centre had been charging 16 to 17 per cent interest rate on loans that it gave to the provinces.

This interest rate, he said, would be reduced in the new budget for which instructions had been issued to the finance ministry.

He said the federal government wanted to improve the financial health of the provinces so that they could undertake meaningful development activities during the next financial year.

“There is no role for the Centre to run the ministries like health and education, which will now be handed over to the provinces,” the president said.

Answering a question, Gen Musharraf said that various constitutional amendments had been finalized which would be made public at the end of this month.

“These amendments will provide protection to our political and economic reforms, remove existing inter-provincial disharmony and strike a balance between the powers of the president, the prime minister and the chief of the army staff,” he said.