ISLAMABAD, April 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has convened a meeting of provincial governors and chief ministers on Tuesday to help forge "political consensus" on the sixth National Finance Commission (NFC) award.

Informed sources told Dawn on Sunday that Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and chief secretaries of the four provinces would also attend the meeting. However, it was not clear if provincial finance ministers have also been invited.

The meeting was summoned after the finance ministry requested President Musharraf to step in to help break the deadlock in the ongoing technical-level talks and bring about a consensus on the award that would remain in force till fiscal 2010-11.

The sources said the prime minister's secretariat had been consulting provincial chief ministers on the subject till Friday but the finance ministry considered it prudent to request the president to use the influence of the governors in the process.

The finance ministry has presented projections to the provinces on the basis of 46 per cent share in the federal divisible pool and has indicated to give a maximum of 47 per cent to them.

The sources said the final share of the provinces, based on their 46 per cent share, would mean an increase of around 13 per cent over their current year's share. As such, Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan would get around Rs120 billion, Rs75 billion, Rs28 billion and Rs20 billion respectively against their current year's share of Rs107 billion, Rs66 billion, Rs25 billion and Rs17 billion.

However, this amount has been rejected by provinces who have been insisting on a 50 per cent share in the divisible pool. The sources said the federal government believed that a consensus on the award was possible only through a political push and that was why the president had been asked to use his good offices in this respect.

The president's meeting with governors and chief ministers, said the sources, would be followed in the next week by a formal meeting of the NFC for follow-up technical discussions. The government is trying to finalize the award by April 22 i.e., before the IMF-World Bank spring meetings scheduled to begin in Washington on April 24.

In the heart of the deadlock, among other things, are the ratio for the sharing of divisible pool between the centre and the provinces and the multi-factor formula for distribution of funds among provinces that need to be resolved before the next award is finalized.

Moreover, provinces' demand for a 2.5 per cent share in the GST in addition to their share in the divisible pool also needs to be resolved. The provinces have demanded that if their share is not increased to 50 per cent, then the sales tax which has been a provincial subject and taken over by the centre, should be transferred to them under the financial devolution plan.