ISLAMBAD:

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday constituted the 11th National Finance Commission for finalising a new resource distribution award, setting the stage for the Centre to try to retrieve some of the lost fiscal space that the provinces will try to resist.

"In pursuance of Clause (1) of Article 160 of the Constitution, the President of Pakistan is pleased to constitute the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) with immediate effect," a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance read on Friday.

The five-year life of the 10th Commission ended last month, which held a few meetings but lost steam after the provinces did not find an incentive to negotiate due to chances of losing fiscal space to the Centre. Under the 7th NFC award of 2010, the share of the provinces incre

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