ISLAMABAD: Amid talk of purported changes to the 18th amendment being on the table, a member of the caretaker government has also called for revisiting the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, which he claims has “held Pakistan back”.

Speaking at the launch of former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Husain’s book, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Waqar Masood Khan highlighted the need to revisit the NFC formula.

“After practising the NFC formula for almost 15 years, we need to rethink it. This has obviously held us back,” he said, advocating for a revision of the existing resource distribution formula among provinces.

The launch of Development Pathways: India-Pakistan-Bangladesh (1947-2022) was hosted by the Centre for Strategic Perspectives and India Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.

PM’s adviser says current formula has ‘held Pakistan back’; NA speaker warns against any steps without consulting stakeholders

Dr Khan also suggested studying fiscal federalism in the three countries — Pakistan, India and Bangladesh — noting the absence of fiscal federalism in Dhaka.

He pointed out a pattern of reform followed by “un-reform” that has been observed since the 1990s. Despite this and other factors, Pakistan has still managed to perform better than expected, he said, but emphasised that the country’s performance could have been significantly improved with the continuous implementation of reforms.

The adviser pointed out that Dr Hus­a­in’s book rightly addressed the converge­nces and divergences between the three economies, terming the 1990s as the turning point for the three economies.

The adviser recommended building up reserves, which he felt served as the critical component of any economy.

In response to a question, Dr Husain identified bureaucrats as significant obstacles to civil service reforms. He noted that attempts to modify bureaucratic entitlements or entrenched interests often met with resistance.

Under the current system, bureaucrats author summaries and submit them to the cabinet for approval. However, if these summaries threaten their interests, bureaucrats may withhold them from approval. This highlights the complexities involved in implementing reforms within the bureaucratic system.

Dr Husain also highlighted the challenges political parties face in implementing their manifestos. He noted that political parties generally agree on key issues such as privatisation, deregulation, inve­s­tment, and human resource development. However, the fear of losing power due to the implementation of their manifestos often hinders progress.

He suggested providing political parties with the assurance of completing their tenure to encourage the implementation of their policies. He also expressed concern about the sustainability of development under military government.

‘Constitution shouldn’t be controversial’

Separately, in an interview with DawnNews, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that before making any changes to the 18th amendment, all stakeholders must be taken into confidence and such a move should not simply be made to garner votes.

The speaker said that everyone must be taken into confidence, without which the issue could turn out to be very dangerous.

“Certain changes may be necessary, however if you do it in this manner, even if it is an essential step, it can be made a subject of controversy. The Constitution is not something which should be made controversial,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2023