ISLAMABAD : The US is expected to provide USD 337 million to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) soon, following the success of country’s military operations against al-Qaeda linked militants in North Waziristan tribal region.
The US government has already notified the Congress of its intention to release the CSF tranche and after a mandatory 15-day notice period ends this weekend, the money will be released to Pakistan.
Pakistan originally expected the release of USD 337 million before June 30, which it wanted to use to adjust in the budget to narrow down deficit but the delay in release dashed the government’s hopes, Express Tribune reported.
CSF disbursements still amounted to roughly USD 1.7 billion in fiscal 2015, said a Finance Ministry official, far higher than the USD 675 million released by Washington in fiscal 2014.
The CSF is part of the US compensation for defence and logistics spending undertaken by Pakistan as part of the US-led war against terrorism.
Pakistan has received close to USD 13 billion in CSF reimbursements since 2001.
The release of the new amount has been made possible by the success of military operation in North Waziristan which has disrupted al-Qaeda linked militants, the report said.
Besides the CSF reimbursements, the US also provides assistance to replace obsolete military equipment under another counter terrorism capability fund, which is administered by Pentagon.
Military assistance from the United States has been increasing in recent months while the civilian aid to Pakistan continues to dry up, the report said.
According to the Finance Ministry’s budgetary books presented to the National Assembly last month, the country received only Rs 5.2 billion or USD 50 million in direct civilian assistance in fiscal 2015 under the Kerry-Lugar Act.
The US had promised to give USD 7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Act from 2010 to 2015 at USD 1.5 billion per annum. (AGENCIES)
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