Centre, provinces had 50-50 share before 7th NFC Award: Shaukat Tareen

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Former finance minister Shaukat Tareen has said that the Centre and provinces had 50-50 share before the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. Expressing his views in 92 News Program ‘Ho Kaya Raha Hai’ on Thursday, he said that it was not justified to criticize the 18th Amendment. “A decrease in the federal revenues is due to the FBR tax system,” he maintained. Shaukat Tareen said that the country’s revenue was nine percent 10 years ago and it was the same today. “It is duty of the FBR to collect the revenue, but the Centre could not run it properly. Our expenditures have increased, but revenue collections could not be increased. A political will is needed to achieve a balance between the expenditures and the revenue,” he maintained. The former finance minister said that the presence of 50 ministries reflect the Mughaliya mentality. “We will have to increase our revenue otherwise the situation in Pakistan will remain unchanged,” he said. He said that ‘Abiyana’ being given by land owners is insufficient to maintain the canal system. “We need continuous a 6-8 percent growth rate. The government will have to increase the investment if it wants to take the growth rate to eight percent. We will have to increase our savings from inside and promote investment,” he maintained.