• Aurangzeb visits Peshawar to thank provincial govt for IMF support, agrees to ‘gradually’ end Fata tax exemptions
• CM’s aide tells minister newly-merged districts require immediate financial support

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa government on Wednesday asked the federal government to take it on board regarding financial decisions concerning the province, as it sought an interim arrangement for the share of erstwhile Fata region in the National Finance Commission Award.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb reportedly agreed to the suggestion of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to end tax exemptions for the merged districts in a phased manner to offset the impact of this decision.

Speaking to Dawn, KP Adviser to Chief Minister on Finance Muzzammil Aslam said they took up the province’s issues with the federal minister, but there was no agenda for the ‘productive and cordial’ meeting.

Mr Aslam said the issue of tax exemptions for the merged areas was taken up during the meeting and it was pointed out that the issue was hurting the economy. As per the CM’s aide, the KP officials said that the federal government should take the lead on this issue by taking all the stakeholders on board.

He said usually the federal government announced decisions in the budget without taking them on board,........

© Dawn Business