First tranche of $1.5 billion under KLB: passage of appropriation bill awaited

Pakistan will receive disbursement of the 1.5 billion dollar per annum assistance envisaged under the Kerry-Lugar bill in the current fiscal only if both the houses of the US pass the appropriation bill soon and after it is signed by President Obama.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday Press Attaché of the US Embassy Richard W Snelsire said that so far nothing had been done in terms of the appropriation bill of the Kerry-Lugar bill and only the Congress knew when this would exactly take place.
Asked if he expects the process to be completed within the current fiscal year, he reiterated that it was entirely up to Congress whether to include appropriation of Kerry-Lugar bill in the US budget for the current fiscal year or not. He added that the entire US budget had not yet been passed, so the appropriation bill for the US aid bill to Pakistan under Kerry Lugar bill could technically be passed this year.
He expressed the hope that the appropriation of Kerry-Lugar bill would be in the very near future. Giving details of appropriation procedure, he said: "The bill first goes to the House for passage then on to the Senate and finally, it is put up to the President for his signature. This entire process as far as the Kerry-Lugar bill is concerned is yet to take place," he added.
The senior officials of the Finance Ministry have repeatedly claimed that Pakistan would receive over 800 million dollars under the Kerry-Lugar bill by March 2010. Finance Secretary Salman Siddique, talking to media recently, said that the first tranche of 874 million dollars under the Kerry-Lugar bill (KLB) would be received by March 2010 for various projects.
Salman claimed that the amount, meant for social sector and poverty reduction, would reduce the burden on the budget. The inflow would be used for small and medium-size schemes, which had already been approved, he said. Secretary Siddique also stated that as the US fiscal year started from October 1, it would take some time to decide the mode of disbursement, and added that Pakistan had been persuading the US administration to allocate funds through official channels rather than through the non-governmental organisations (NGOs).