Islamabad, April 30, IRNA -- The United States has outlined dollar 701 million aid package for Pakistan for the next US fiscal year, beginning October 1, 2004, a local publication said.
The News daily reported in its Friday issue that the details of the package were discussed in Washington between Pakistan`s Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and US Treasury Secretary John Snow and other senior officials.
According to the daily, the amount would include: dollar 22.15 million for Child Survival and Health Programme Fund; dollar 29 million for Development Assistance; dollar 300 million for Economic Support Fund; dollar 300 million for Foreign Military Financing; dollar 2 million for International Military Education; dollar 40 million for International Narcotics Control; dollar 6 million for
Anti-Terror; dollar 1 million for Export Control/ Border Security.
The US aid flows returned to Pakistan following the September 11 events, when Islamabad took a U-turn on its Afghan policy by offering unstinted support against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The proposed package, which is presented before the Senate, is dollar 100 million more than what the United States had agreed to give under the Camp David agreement for Pakistan. Even during the Afghan war, Islamabad did not get such a large financial assistance in a single year, observers said.
Earlier reports said that Pakistan will get a record fund
allocation of $ 700 million from the United States for financial year 2004-5. The amount is part of the five-year aid package that totals $ 3 billion - halved in defence and economic support assistance, reports suggested. The US Administration has suggested a record fund allocation of
over 700 million dollars for Pakistan for the US budgetary year 2005, sources here confirmed.
It is higher than the previous fund allocation for the current year, which amounted to 395 million dollars, of which figure, half was utilized in debt repayments saving on the debt interest amount. "This is despite the fact that there was immense opposition from Indian lobby and others, who tried to bring about different enactments
in a bid to halt the proposed earmarking," officials said.
Out of $700, the allocations are $300 in economic support fund, $300 for foreign military financing, and remaining $100 for other areas including allocations for child health development assistance, anti-terrorism, border security and training, support for narcotics control, reports said.
Pakistan has reportedly utilized the $200 million for economic support fund for repayment of its debt. "It helped in writing off of almost $500 million debt to the US," the same officials added.
Pakistan`s foreign debt and liabilities total $35 billion, of which $33 billion is debt, according to local sources.
The $3 billion package was announced by US President George W Bush at Camp David in a meeting with President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf on June 24, 2003.
Based on the agreement, $600 million will be disbursed each year - half of the amount being for defence equipment purchases and remaining half for economic development. Bush signed and submitted to the Congress the budgetary
allocations last February.
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