Poverty alleviation, education and health: $5.8 billion essentially, strictly is a grant

The pledge for $5.8 billion assistance to Pakistan, committed at the Tokyo meeting, is essentially and strictly a grant for poverty alleviation, education and health. According to informed sources, the International Monetary Fund had estimated a budgetary gap of over four billion dollars over two years needed by Pakistan to improve its social sector indicators.
Pakistan side had estimated the gap at six billion dollars and due strenuous efforts by the Pakistan side, pledges of $5.28 billion as cash grant were received. Earlier, Pakistan had indicated its security need to fight war against terror at $3.5 billion. And, had asked for the creation of a Trust Fund of $8 billion.
Prior to the Tokyo moot, the indications were already there of $3.0 billion towards poverty alleviation programmes and one billion towards health and education. One billion dollar commitment by United States of America is over and above the $1.5 billion committed by the US Congress under the Kerry/Lugar bill.
Highly placed sources told Business Recorder that multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are expected to enhance their existing contribution on account of the success of macroeconomic stabilisation measures undertaken by Pakistan and the sympathy generated among the donor member nations.
Friends of Democratic Pakistan, it is said, would like to see a continuity in Pakistan''''s decision making apparatus to achieve medium and long term economic goals. "The scale of donor pledges made today is a signal of regard for the tough measures the economic team, led by Finance Advisor Shaukat Tarin, has taken in the past few months," said Guerrero.
"We now need to focus on a range of critical development issues including health, education, skills building and social mobilisation as well as important infrastructure to underpin future growth. In a world crowded with problems, Pakistan has won an important commitment to this big agenda."