Sindh says NFC reconstitution unconstitutional

In a major development, the Sindh government rejected the reconstitution of National Financial Commission (NFC), declaring the move as unconstitutional, 24NewsHD reported on Thursday.

The provincial government decided to write a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, as it is of the opinion that the appointment of the NFC members is in violation of the Constitution and thus unacceptable, sources said.

The adviser on finance cannot chair head the NFC, says the Sindh government, as the sources said, adding that they would raise their voice against the reconstitution of NFC.

Earlier on Tuesday, the federal government reconstituted the 10th NFC, with Tariq Bajwa as the member from Punjab. He is a former governor of State Bank of Pakistan.

The other members, according to a notification, are Musharraf Rasool from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Asad Syed from Sindh and Javed Jabbar from Balochistan.

Meanwhile, Adviser on Finance Hafeez Shaikh as well as the four provincial finance ministers would also be the NFC members.

The NFC Award is in the news ever since the ruling party members started issuing statements about the need to bring changes in the 18th Amendment.

On the other hand, the provinces haven’t received the full annual share this year under the NFC Award at a time when they are grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a severe financial crisis.

24NewsHD on Monday reported that Punjab was facing a budget deficit soaring to the historic level of Rs6.64 trillion, as the province did not get the complete share of Rs10 trillion from the Centre under the NFC Award.

Same is the case with Sindh after the federal government slashed the province’s share by Rs233 billion.