Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has highlighted the "unsustainable" 82% population weightage in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, despite rapid population growth being an existential threat. The current formula, which also includes poverty (10.3%), revenue (5%), and inverse population density (2.7%), primarily rewards demographic size rather than provincial efforts in population management. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal proposes new NFC incentives for provinces demonstrating measurable improvements in population control, aiming to create a separate "population-performance component" in future awards. Such fiscal reforms, if successfully implemented, could lead to greater economic stability and improved public finance management in Pakistan, potentially strengthening the PKR against the USD and influencing local gold demand.
بحوالہ / Source: www.brecorder.com