NFC meeting inconclusive; more talks tomorrow

Updated at: 2234 PST, Thursday, December 10, 2009

LAHORE: The 6th NFC meeting held here today could not become conclusive as issues continued to persist among provinces on resource distribution formula. The meeting will continue for the third day tomorrow.A briefing was due to be given at the conclusion of today’s meeting but it had to be postponed in the absence of a final agreement.The Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin along with the four chief ministers was to give a good news to the nation at the end of today’s meeting in a briefing scheduled to be held at 8:30pm here at Punjab Chief Minister House. But, at the eleventh hour the briefing had to be postponed.Pakistan Muslim League- N leader Ishaq Dar told the media that agreement has been reached on a formula for resource distribution between the federation and provinces. But, the issue of resource distribution among provinces has not yet been resolved. In this regard, talks will continue in tomorrow’s meeting.“If need be, the negotiations will be carried on even after tomorrow’s meeting,” Ishaq Dar said, adding, “some more days can be spent on the issue which has been standing for the last 19 years.”