President Asif Ali Zardari has approved a change to the constitution of the newly formed 11th National Finance Commission (NFC), following a revised nomination from the provincial government of Balochistan. According to a statement from the President Secretariat, the change was necessary after Balochistan recommended Mahfooz Ali Khan as its non ex-officio member, superseding the president’s earlier approval for the commission’s makeup.
The 11th NFC was formally constituted last week to address critical fiscal matters between Pakistan’s federal government and its provinces. This move dissolved the previous 10th NFC, which had been formed in July 2020. The commission is tasked with making pivotal recommendations on the distribution of federally collected taxes, grants-in-aid to provinces, and government borrowing powers.
Chaired by the federal finance minister, the commission includes the four provincial finance ministers as ex-officio members. Each province has also nominated one expert to serve on the body: Nasir Mahmood Khosa for Punjab, Dr. Asad Sayeed for Sindh, Dr. Musharraf Rasool Cyan for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Farman Ullah for Balochistan, whose position is now subject to the recent change.
The terms of reference for the 11th NFC mandate it to deliberate on the sharing of financial responsibilities for national and trans-provincial projects, along with any other fiscal matters referred by the president. Its recommendations will be crucial in shaping the financial relationship between the federation and the provinces for the coming years.
