Quetta: The Balochistan government has warned it would not be able to pay salaries for the next month if the federal government does not release the province’s share under the National Finance Commission Award (NFC).

After Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir; Balochistan was the latest federating unit to have complained about the lack of financial help from Islamabad.

According to the provincial finance department, Balochistan was supposed to receive Rs 131 billion from the federal resources under the NFC Award in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year.

The Financial department, however, claimed only Rs 101 billion has been provided so far.

The Rs 30 billion shortfall has caused grave financial problems for the province and if the money was not released immediately, the provincial government would be unable to pay salaries to its employees, a senior official of the finance department told Dawn.

He added Balochistan was already being paid Rs 5-8 billion less than its share in the NFC Award which has disturbed the province’s budget.

He claimed Balochistan was also deprived of Rs 11.2 billion in 2021.