FATA | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday assured the PTI that it would discuss with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the extension of tax exemptions for the merged districts of the erstwhile Fata and Pata regions, according to federal minister Rana Sanaullah. Sanaullah, who also serves as the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, made the remarks after key leaders from the government and the PTI met at Parliament House. “The finance minister has promised [the opposition] that he will seek to extend these exemptions after speaking with the IMF, and God-willing, will make efforts for it,” Sanaullah told reporters after the meeting. The meeting was held in the chamber of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam also attended from the government side, while Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar and PTI MNAs from the erstwhile Fata represented the opposition. Sanaullah said the opposition had raised concerns with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the National As...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has formally placed its key financial demands before the federal government during the inaugural session of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC), calling for the inclusion of the former FATA region in the award and substantial revision of provincial allocations.

PESHAWAR: Ahead of 11th National Finance Commission (NFC)’s inaugural meeting scheduled for December 4, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has said that it is focusing on financial merger of the merged areas into federal divisible pool. Earlier on Friday, KP chief minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi in a media interaction in Islamabad told reporters that he intended to attend NFC inaugural meeting. He said that he was going to attend the meeting as it was a matter of provincial rights and that the Centre should pay Rs3 trillion of liabilities. On Saturday, KP adviser to chief minister on finance Muzzammil Aslam in a social media post stated the shared a range of items which the province was expecting from the 11th NFC Award. Province seeks to align Award with ‘ground realities’ He said that the KP was looking towards the financial merger for erstwhile Fata into federal divisible pool. “Currently, merged area gets special grants from federal government. This will pass on the burden on provinces and relief to federa...

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench has reinstated the Sales Tax Amendment Act for the formerly Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA), suspending the Peshawar High Court’s earlier verdict that had nullified the act.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for National Health Services, Syed Mustafa Kamal, has announced the allocation of 333 additional medical and dental college seats for students from Baluchistan and erstwhile FATA for the 2024-25 academic session.