NFC Award Meeting Today
LAHORE, Pakistan News: The 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award meeting will continue on the third day under the chairmanship of Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin here on Friday, it is hoped the award would be announced today.
A two-day meeting of the 7th NFC Award concluded late Thursday night without finalising horizontal distribution of resources. According to sources privy to developments, representatives of all the four federating units failed to reach an agreement over the contentious issue of horizontal sharing during the two-day meeting in Lahore.
Another informal session could be convened on Friday morning as the Thursday talks failed to yield a positive outcome. The sources said the federal government agreed to shed its share under the vertical formula to 56-57.5 per cent from previous share of about 46pc. The provinces want to increase the vertical share to 60 per cent. Nevertheless, major increase in the share of provinces has made the four chief ministers heave a sigh of relief.
According to sources, only Balochistan will get greater share of resources from the federal divisible pool, compared with the last NFC Award, and remaining provinces will have to bear losses in revenue percentage wise.
Sources claimed that overall share of Balochistan under horizontal sharing will go up to 9.2 per cent from present paltry 7.1 per cent. Share of Punjab will be curtailed to 51.9 per cent from present 53 per cent. Sindh will have to get 23.8 per cent resources against previous over 24 per cent share, while NWFP will be given 14.24 per cent share against previous allocation of 14.89 per cent.
Apart from provincial representatives, all four chief ministers also participated in negotiations Thursday evening.
NFC Award Meeting Today was first posted on December 11, 2009 at 2:48 pm.
Arrest of Hamesh Khan an Important Achievement, Remarks CJ
Pakistan News: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary has remarked 
during the hearing of Harris Steel Mills case that it seems as if the DG FIA has been penalized and transferred for assisting the court. The CJ asked during the hearing that why was the DG FIA being changed despite the fact that he played a key role in the arrest of the Bank of Punjab scam accused, adding that it seemed he was punished for helping the court. The CJ added that the arrest of Hamesh Khan is an important development. The NAB officials told the court that it would take some time to bring Hamesh from the US. The apex court has directed action against Islamabad Chief Commissioner for helping Harris Steel Mills’ owner Sheikh Afzal escape. The court adjourned the hearing till December 16.
Arrest of Hamesh Khan an Important Achievement, Remarks CJ was first posted on December 11, 2009 at 3:39 pm.
