Victory
01-10-03, 23:55
USAID to provide $200m aid to Pakistan
Islamabad, Oct 2 - The US Agency for International Development (USAID)
has pledged 75 million dollars assistance to Pakistan, an USAID
statement said on Wednesday.
The aid, which includes 200 million dollars in economic help and
75 million dollars for development, is for the American fiscal year
2004 that began on October 1st, the statement said.
The sum still needs to be approved by the US Congress.
USAID provided US$238 million in funding in the last fiscal year.
The agency resumed its assistance program to Pakistan in 2002, a
decade after halting operations to protest the country`s nuclear
weapons program. Pakistan was later sanctioned by the US for
detonating nuclear devices in 1998.
Those sanctions were lifted in December as a reward for
Islamabad`s pivotal role in assisting the US-led military campaign in
Afghanistan.
The statement said USAID assistance will mainly focus on
education, health and community development, but Pakistan can use
US$200 million either for debt relief or budgetary support.
Pakistan owes US$1.8 billion to the US administration in bilateral
debt.
The American government wrote-off US$1 billion in debt last year
after Pakistan sought debt relief from Western nations to overcome
losses its economy suffered during the US-led war in neighboring
Afghanistan.
Islamabad, Oct 2 - The US Agency for International Development (USAID)
has pledged 75 million dollars assistance to Pakistan, an USAID
statement said on Wednesday.
The aid, which includes 200 million dollars in economic help and
75 million dollars for development, is for the American fiscal year
2004 that began on October 1st, the statement said.
The sum still needs to be approved by the US Congress.
USAID provided US$238 million in funding in the last fiscal year.
The agency resumed its assistance program to Pakistan in 2002, a
decade after halting operations to protest the country`s nuclear
weapons program. Pakistan was later sanctioned by the US for
detonating nuclear devices in 1998.
Those sanctions were lifted in December as a reward for
Islamabad`s pivotal role in assisting the US-led military campaign in
Afghanistan.
The statement said USAID assistance will mainly focus on
education, health and community development, but Pakistan can use
US$200 million either for debt relief or budgetary support.
Pakistan owes US$1.8 billion to the US administration in bilateral
debt.
The American government wrote-off US$1 billion in debt last year
after Pakistan sought debt relief from Western nations to overcome
losses its economy suffered during the US-led war in neighboring
Afghanistan.