MONDAY, MAY 12, 2003
US hints at writing-off remaining $1.8 bn Pak debt
PTI
ISLAMABAD: The US has said it may consider Pakistan's request to write off its $1.8 billion debt in addition to the recent cancellation of a billion dollar debt.
"The US is looking at different ways to provide an assistance package to Pakistan. We are looking at a number of alternatives and debt relief is one of them," US Ambassador to Pakistan, Nancy Powell said on Saturday while signing an MOU to grant $70 million to Pakistan's health services.
The US Congress had recently approved one billion debt write-off package to Pakistan and Islamabad has requested Washington to cancel the remaining $1.8 billion also in order to provide a comprehensive relief.
After the one billion dollar debt write off, Pakistan has a 36 billion dollar foreign debt and its repayment schedules have been renegotiated with various countries after Pakistan joined the campaign against Taliban and al-Qaeda following terrorist attacks in US.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz asked Powell to consider cancelling the remaining debt owed by Pakistan to the US to help the country spend more on poverty alleviation.
Saying that Pakistan was spending Rs 161 billion on social sector related programmes during the current financial year, which was 20 per cent more than the amount spent for the purpose last year, he said the spending would increase during the subsequent year.
Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development (USAIDS), United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) and the government of Pakistan signed an MoU to improve the quality and availability of reproductive healthcare services in Pakistan.
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