Finance minister reviews financial requirements for tribal districts

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Asad Umar chaired a meeting to review the financial requirements of the tribal districts  (erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas).

The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  Governor, Shah Farman; Chief Minister, Mahmood Khan, Finance Minister KP,  Taimur Saleem Jhagra, and Adviser to Prime Minister on Establishment, Mohammad Shehzad Arbab.

Finance Minister, Asad Umar assured the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for bringing the merged districts at par with the rest of the Province.

He said that the Prime Minister accorded the highest priority to uplift of these areas and the federal as well as provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were committed to provide 3 percent of their share for the uplift of merged districts, until the time appropriate allocations are allocated through the National Finance Commission (NFC) process.

KP Finance Minister gave a detailed presentation to the meeting, highlighting the financial needs of the merged tribal districts.

He briefed the meeting on the detailed plans for the socio-economic development of the merged districts and emphasized the importance of regular and timely financial allocation.

The Governor and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emphasized that the provincial government was fully geared to undertake the required developmental activities to completely transform the merged districts.

It was decided that the Federal and Provincial authorities would continue their coordinated efforts for preparation and processing of detailed development plan along with timeline for implementation of various activities.