HindustanTimes.com

Friday, April 4, 2003

US, Pakistan to sign $1 bn debt waiver: Official

Agence France-Presse
Islamabad, April 4

The United States is set to sign a long-promised $1 billion debt write-off
for Pakistan, officials said on Friday.

US ambassador Nancy Powell and the head of Islamabad's Economic Affairs
Division (EAD), Waqar Masood, are set to sign an agreement affirming the
write-off on Saturday.

"Tomorrow's signing is a write-off of $1 billion," a finance ministry
official said.

The write-off was offered by US President George W Bush in February last
year during a visit to Washington by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Bush announced then that he would work with Congress to secure the debt
relief for 2003.

It has since been approved by Congress and ratified by Bush, an EAD official
told the Daily Times.

The US had earlier rescheduled three billion dollars worth of Pakistan's
foreign debt in late 2001, when it stood at 38.5 billion dollars. It also
supported the rescheduling of another nine billion dollars by the
International Monetary Fund.

The debt relief was part of a package of rewards for Pakistan's cooperation
in the US-led military campaign to crush the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in
neighbouring Afghanistan.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2002.
Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission