Pakistan and the United States have finalized
details of a $701 million military and economic assistance
package to be offered to Islamabad in November, Finance
Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Thursday.
"The US government has sent a formal
request to the US Congress to approve a $701 million military
and economic assistance program for Pakistan which is
to be approved on November 1 along with the US budget
for 2005," he said. Talking to news media here on
Thursday after his return from a visit to the United States,
Mr Shaukat Aziz said he had held useful talks with senior
US officials besides meeting the functionaries of the
US Exim Bank, USAID and the chief of the economic wing
of the National Security Council.
He said the Bush administration had decided
to offer $300 million each as part of the military and
economic assistance program for Pakistan. "Then,
additionally, they have approved $101 million development
assistance for health, education, narcotics control and
law enforcement," he said. The finance minister said
he had met Ted Steven, chairman of the Senate Appropriation
Committee, and Jim Kolbe, head of the House Appropriation
Committee. He said meetings were also held with US Secretary
of Treasury John Snow and Under-Secretary of State for
Economic Affairs Alan Larson. "And they assured us
that the US will provide all necessary military and economic
assistance to Pakistan."
He said that a $480 million
debt, out of a total of the $2 billion loan that Pakistan
owed to the US, would be written off this year for which
broad understanding had been reached between the two countries.
Mr Aziz said the US Exim Bank had decided to open up credit
facilities for the American investors to help them do
business with Pakistan's public sector. Besides, Mr Aziz
pointed out, an Exim Bank delegation would visit Pakistan
next month to assess the credit needs of the private sector.
"The US investors appear keen to invest in the power
sector and undertake some railway projects for which the
Exim Bank will extend the required guarantee," he
said.
