‘Provinces asked to help fill massive gap in budget’

Speaking at a news conference, KP Ad­­viser on Finance Muzammil Aslam said the uncertainty following the cancellation of National Economic Council (NEC) meeting and the rescheduling of Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) was very concerning for the markets, as was evident from the massive re­­cent plunge at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. He said the NEC meeting called for June 3 had been unexpectedly canceled without any reason and without a new date being set, while the APCC meeting was also earlier canceled on May 21 without advance notice, and then held on June 1. Aslam’s contentions seemed to echo points recently made by PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar. In a recent appearance on DawnNewsTV, he said that the federal government did not have adequate funds to allocate to major heads, such as defence, debt servicing and pensions, adding that the provinces had also been asked to contribute to make up the shortfall. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Aslam said the Centre did not expect the healthy profits next year and was banking on the petroleum levy, and more funds from provinces to shore up its kitty. He said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had earlier suggested about Rs1.7tr share out of provincial shares of the divisible pool by revisiting some taxes, like customs duties. Under this scheme, the Centre had indicated it would need a Rs700-800bn slice from Punjab, Rs500bn from Sindh and Rs200bn from KP, but claimed there had been no follow-up decision in this regard. Highlighting Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s dismay, Asl