PESHAWAR, Feb 25: Federal government has recently released a sum of Rs550m to NWFP from direct federal transfers for the 2001-02 financial year, according to official sources.

Fresh payment to NWFP, according to official sources, was made by the Federal government in accordance with the reconciled figures of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR).

CBR, added the sources, has recently completed the exercise of reconciling its accounts for the 2001-02 financial year after that the province was made rest of the payment.

The province had initially been projected to get Rs21.72bn from the Federal Divisible Pool (FDP) during the 2001-02 financial year.

However, after the CBR failed to meet the assigned revenue generation target for the 2001-02 financial year, federating units’ FDP shares were duly slashed under the revised budgetary estimates of the federal government for that fiscal year (2001-02 financial year).

As per the revised budgetary estimates the NWFP was entitled to get Rs17.762bn from the FDP during the 2001-02 financial year against which the province received Rs17.2bn, recording a shortfall of over Rs560m in comparison with the revised budgetary estimates.

“The province has recently been intimated that an amount of Rs550m is being released to it as outstanding direct federal transfers in accordance with the reconciled figures of the CBR,” said the senior government functionaries.

The fresh payment brought the total amount paid to NWFP from the Federal Divisible Pool (FDP) for the 2001-02 financial year to Rs17.72bn - in proximity with its the downward revised FDP share for the last financial year.

The fresh disbursement of funds from the 2001-02 financial year’s accounts, according to sources, came as a ‘big surprise and unexpected’ improving financial health of the provincial kitty.

“It would certainly reduce the pressure the provincial government is in,” said the sources, adding the province would be having greater cushion for quite some time from now onward during the current fiscal year.