The federal government is moving forward with the formation of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC), aimed at proposing a new financial award for the equitable distribution of national resources among the provinces, according to informed sources.
The commission is expected to submit its recommendations after the announcement of the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025–26.
Sources revealed that the Ministry of Finance has sent formal requests to provincial finance ministers, asking them to nominate technocrat members for the commission. Asad Saeed is expected to represent Sindh, while Kaiser Bengali has been nominated from Balochistan. Nominations from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are still pending. Once all names are received, the commission’s formation will be finalized.
There are also discussions around increasing the provinces’ share in the upcoming NFC Award. To support this, working groups will be created and tasked with preparing relevant reports for the commission’s deliberations.
The federal finance minister will head the commission as its chairman, while the finance secretary will serve in an advisory capacity.
The commission is likely to begin its activities in August. According to insiders, consultations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also planned to address key aspects of the NFC formation and financial restructuring.
The NFC is established every five years. The 10th commission is set to complete its term on July 23 without finalizing the 8th award. The most recent finalized award dates back to 2010 and expired in 2015. Since then, the President of Pakistan has been annually extending the last consensus-based award on a temporary basis.
