Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani Thursday said that interference in internal matters of Pakistan on part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with regard to distribution of resources under the 18th Constitutional Amendment and creation of an impression about the NFC is not acceptable.
Referring to a recent report released by the IMF that declared that Pakistan failed to ensure distribution of resources under NFC, which means Article 160 of the Constitution has become redundant, Rabbani said that Pakistan is an independent state and will not bow before the dictates of the IMF.
He said that a centrist mindset is creating hurdles in the way of smooth implementation of 18th Constitutional Amendment and a frivolous interpretation was being given to delay announcement of the new NFC Award.
He rejected the interpretation given by the bureaucracy about the NFC Award and said that as per bureaucracy's interpretation, the government is supposed to constitute the NFC and not necessarily has to announce the Award after every five years. Rabbani termed this interpretation ridiculous and against the Constitution. He said that it has been reported that secretary finance while taking chief secretaries of four provinces onboard in a meeting has decided to present the upcoming budget without NFC.
"When Parliament is there then how can the bureaucracy decide on such matters," he added.
However, State Minister for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal said that the IMF report is kind of an advisory type thing and the government is not bound to implement whatever the IMF says.
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