Sindh receives Rs312.2bn NFC award share in 8 months

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance strongly refutes the impression created by the certain statements passed by representatives of Sindh Government that there was delay in transfer of resources from the Federal Government to the Provinces.

A statement issued by ministry of finance on Tuesday said that during the first 8 months of the current financial year, an amount of Rs.312.2 billion has been provided to Sindh as part of its share in the collected revenue.

In addition an amount of Rs 57.5 billion has been provided as arrears for the last year.

Overall, the Government of Sindh has received Rs.27.1 billion more during the current financial year (July 2018 - February 2019) compared to the same period of last year.

It needs to be noted that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) reports revenue collection to Finance Division twice a month (on 17th and last working day of the month).

The shares of the provinces are transferred on the same date as per the National Finance Commission (NFC) formula and no amounts are withheld by Finance Division, the statement added.

It seems that the claim of shortfall is based on the assumption that revenue collection is evenly spread during the 12 months of the financial year, which is not the case.

Historically during the initial months of the financial year, the collections remain on lower side compared to the later part of the year with the highest collection recorded in June of every financial year.

The Federal and Provincial fiscal authorities are aware of this fact and plan their expenditures accordingly, the statement added.