President Asif Ali Zardari has approved a change in the composition of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC). According to a statement from the President’s Secretariat Press Wing, this change was necessary after the Balochistan government revised its nomination, recommending Mahfooz Ali Khan as its non-ex-officio member for the 11th NFC.
“The president accorded approval to this nomination, superseding the earlier approval,” the statement added.
Last week, President Zardari officially constituted the 11th NFC to handle critical fiscal matters between the federation and the provinces. The nine-member commission was announced via a notification from the Finance Division on Friday, which also dissolved the 10th NFC that was formed in July 2020. New Terms of Reference (ToRs) were also recommended to the president for the next NFC Award.
According to the notification, the Finance Minister will chair the commission, while the finance ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan will serve as ex-officio members. Each province also nominated one expert, bringing the total number of members to nine. Nasir Mahmood Khosa will represent Punjab, Dr. Asad Sayeed will represent Sindh, Dr. Musharraf Rasool Cyan will represent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Farman Ullah will represent Balochistan.
The NFC is tasked with making recommendations to the president on the distribution of net proceeds from federally collected taxes among the federation and provinces, as well as on grants-in-aid to provinces and the borrowing powers of both federal and provincial governments. The commission will also deliberate on the sharing of financial responsibilities for national and trans-provincial projects, along with any other fiscal matters referred by the president.
