ISLAMABAD: The 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) has been notified by President Asif Ali Zardari to resolve financial matters between the federation and the provinces.
The commission, consisting of nine members, was announced through a notification issued by the Finance Division on Friday, which also dissolved the 10th NFC formed in July 2020.
According to the notification, the Federal Minister for Finance will chair the commission, while the finance ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan will serve as ex-officio members.
Each province has also nominated one expert, raising the total number of members to nine. Punjab will be represented by Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Sindh by Dr Asad Sayeed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan, and Balochistan by Farman Ullah.
The NFC has been tasked with making recommendations to the president regarding the distribution of net proceeds of federally collected taxes among the federation and provinces, grants-in-aid to provinces, and the borrowing powers of both federal and provincial governments.
It will also deliberate on the sharing of financial responsibilities for national projects, trans-provincial initiatives, and other fiscal matters referred by the President.
The new terms of reference ToRs recommended to the president for the next Award are:
a) the distribution between the federation and the provinces of the net proceeds of the taxes mentioned in clause (3) of Article 160 of the Constitution;
b) the making of grants-in-aid by the federal government to the provincial governments;
c) the exercise, by the federal government and the provincial governments, of the borrowing powers conferred by the Constitution;
d) issues relating to sharing of financial expense incurred or to be incurred by the federation in respect of subjects and matters falling within the domain of the Provinces;
e) issues relating to sharing of financial expense incurred or to be incurred by the Federation or the Provinces or both in respect of trans-provincial matters;
f) issues relating to financial expense for national projects to be shared by the Federation and the Provinces; and
g) any other matter relating to finance referred to the commission by the president