PESHAWAR: Expressing its concerns over delay in formation of the 9th National Finance Commission (NFC) award, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to lodge a formal protest with the centre.

The decision was made at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muzaffar Said, according to a statement issued here on Wednesday.

It was decided that the centre would be approached by the provincial bureaucracy on weekly basis and at minister`s level on monthly basis to press the federal government for announcing the new NFC award.

The meeting decided that the chief minister would be kept abreast about the progress on the matter.

On the occasion, the finance minister regretted that the centre was bent upon carrying on with the 7th NFC award despite the fact that the award was constituted before the 18th Constitutional amendment on the basis of the census conducted 18 years ago.

The meeting also decided to implement the announcement regarding convening of a multi-party conference on the issue as well as developing close liaison with other provinces, particularly Sindh and Balochistan, to evolve a consensus on the new award.

The meeting also discussed issues pertaining to timely achievement of the development goals announced in the budget and development strategy of the provincial government.-Bureau Report