According to a summary sent by then federal secretary finance, Dr Waqar Masood, on July 14, 2016 fiscal consolidation is an important prerequisite for achieving macrocosmic stability and promoting growth in the country. However, in a federation, federal government alone cannot achieve fiscal goals. Fiscal policies of both the federal and provincial governments should complement each other.
Finance Ministry argued that to ensure consistency and harmony in the fiscal policies of the federal and provincial government, there is a need to have close coordination amongst them.
In order to institute appropriate coordination mechanism, Finance Ministry has proposed a Fiscal Coordination Committee (FCC) with the following composition and Terms of Reference (ToR): (i) Federal Finance Secretary-Chairman; (ii) Chairman FBR-Member; (iii) Special Secretary Finance-Member; (iv) Director General (Debt)-Member; (v) Finance Secretaries of all provinces-Members and;(vi) Joint Secretary (PF)-Member/Convener.
Terms and Reference of the FCC will be: (a) to review and discuss fiscal policy of the federal and provincial governments and suggest suggestions; (b) to monitor current and development expenditure of federal and provincial governments; (c) to discuss the issue relating to FBR; (d) to review debt stock of the federal and provincial governments in the respective FRDL Act; (e) to discuss the position of provincial own receipts and suggest measures for enhancement of the provincial revenues and; (f) to review cash balances of the federal and provincial governments. The committee shall meet at least on quarterly basis or as and when required.
National Water Policy: Pakistan is an agrarian economy that is heavily dependent on the water of its rivers, mainly for agriculture (95 percent) and hydropower generation. It has the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world which commands an area of 42 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water annually and the average annual canal withdrawal is 104 MAF. The system also utilizes an estimated 50 MAF of ground water pumped through more than 600,000 tube wells (mostly private) to supplement the canal supplies.
Water is, however, a finite resource, progressively becoming scarcer due to persistent increases in its competing demands. Pakistan is now ranked as a water scarce country with annual water availability less than 1,000 cubic meters per person as compared to 5,260 cubic meters per year at the time of independence. Because of growing population, per capita water availability is likely to further decline to 860 cubic meters per year in 2025, representing acute water shortage conditions. In such a scenario it becomes imperative to ensure water security in the country through a consensus policy document that outlines an integrated water management strategy for implementing appropriate adaptation measures to ensure water, food and energy security for the country as well as for minimizing the impact of natural disasters.
In order to take cognizance of the existing situation and to provide guidelines for future plan of actions a comprehensive National Water Policy (NWP) has been prepared after extensive consultations and deliberations with all key stakeholders. The policy prescribes an Integrated Water Resources Management Regime, its prime objectives.
Initial draft of Pakistan's National Water Policy was prepared in 2005 which could not get approval at that time. Later on, in the aftermath of 2010 floods, it was decided to update NWP by taking stock of the latest developments in the water sector, especially climate change and its impact on water resources. The Policy document was accordingly updated after detailed consultations and deliberations with key stakeholders and was sent to Ministry of Law & Justice in October 2012 for vetting and advice. Ministry of Law & Justice, in December 2012, advised to finalize the Policy in consultation with the provinces through Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination.
The draft NWP was circulated to all major stakeholders in July 2015. After a series of consultative sessions, organized in Islamabad and all the provincial capitals, and on the basis of the inputs received from the stakeholders on various occasions, necessary refinements were made in the policy document after thorough analysis by the relevant experts.
A final consultative seminar on draft NWP was organized by Ministry of Water & Power on November 28, 2016, at Islamabad. The seminar was attended by representatives of federal and provincial governments/Gilgit-Baltistan, AJ&K, FATA and other concerned stakeholders. Views/comments offered by the participants were discussed in detail with the team of water and policy experts and agreed amendments/refinements were duly incorporated in the Policy document.
Water and Power Ministry has reiterated that the objective of the National Water Policy is to provide guidelines and a road map for development and management of the precious national water resource. The policy document will, in fact, encourage and guide the provinces to align their water use and management practices with the national perspective. The CCI will consider the finalized document of National Water Policy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017