Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has set up a high -level committee to oversee the implementation of the National Fiscal packet, the committee’s responsibilities include consensus on sharing debt burden in the provinces and emergency construction of water infrastructure.
According to the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ishaq Dar and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be the co -chairperson of the eight -member committee, including defense, planning, finance, economic affairs, law and justice ministers and the Attorney General of Pakistan.
The committee does not include any PTI representative, which is not possible to achieve the IMF’s goals through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ruler and whose support for the National Fiscal packet.
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Under a condition of the IMF, the National Fiscal packet was signed by the Federal and Provincial Ministers in September 2024, but its implementation was slow, as the provinces, especially Sindh, are reluctant to take some financial responsibilities. One of the aims of the Fiscal packet is to improve the financial responsibilities and better harmony in the federal government’s taxation policies.
According to the IMF staff level report, during the new financial year, development projects that are limited to only one province will be funded directly from the provincial budget. According to the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Finance Division will be the Secretariat of the Committee.
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Other important responsibilities of the committee include sharing the debt burden, including consensus on the issues and challenges of national importance and developing infrastructure for water security.
According to sources, interest payments in the new budget are likely to reach 87 trillion, the federal government is considering transferring some part of the expenditure to the provinces. However, under the constitution, the province is not obliged to share this financial responsibility.
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According to the Prime Minister’s Office, after the suspension of the Sindh Tas Treaty, the construction of new water reservoirs is needed on the basis of war.
The committee will also play a role in the implementation of the challenges and the form of a consensus between the federal, provinces and the relevant stakeholders. The IMF recommends that the authorities prepare a framework to guide the provinces to invest through the non -competitive bid of cash surplus collected in government securities.
