After months of delay, the meeting of the National Finance Commission (NFC) has been scheduled for today (December 4), marking an important step toward formally beginning negotiations between the federation and provinces on a new revenue-sharing formula.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will chair the meeting. The meeting has been postponed multiple times, with the most recent delay on November 10 due to members’ unavailability. If today’s meeting proceeds as planned, it will be the first session of the 11th NFC, which was formally notified by the President on August 22. According to sources, all provinces have confirmed their participation.
Official sources revealed that prior to the meeting, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has finalized its key demands. These include updating the 7th NFC Award by incorporating the merged FATA districts, increasing the share allocated for the war against terrorism from 1% to 3%, resolving disputes under Article 161 regarding excise duty on oil, restructuring the excise duty and windfall levy system on gas, and establishing a monthly schedule for NFC meetings to ensure continuity.
The province has also raised the point that the current NFC is inconsistent with Article 160 because, after the 25th Constitutional Amendment, former FATA is not included. Therefore, the Commission is considered ineffective in its existing form.
The initial meeting, scheduled for August 28, was postponed at the request of the Sindh government due to the province dealing with a flood emergency. Later, the NFC Secretariat set a new date for the meeting.
According to sources, the first meeting is expected to approve the formation of technical sub-groups and endorse a structured roadmap for negotiations in the coming months.
Senior officials acknowledge that the upcoming negotiations will be complex due to the federal government’s limited fiscal space, rising debt repayments, and the provinces’ increasing demands for a larger share in national resources.
