Pakistan would soon receive $500 million from the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP), said State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar while talking to media here on Thursday. According to the Minister this money would come from Saudi Arabia, US, Turkey and may be Japan.
She said that Japan instead of giving direct financial assistance to Pakistan has expressed the desire to spend the pledges through Poverty Reduction Strategy Program (PRSP) of the World Bank (WB). The Minister expressed the hope that the US would soon pay $530 million of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to Pakistan.
The Finance Committee deferred the business on the agenda after the members' complaint that they have not been provided brief and could not approve the Ordinances without studying them. "We are not prepared and could not blindly pass any bill," they said after which it was agreed with consensus to take up the Competition Commission Ordinance 2007 and a bill for Industrial Development Bank Re-organisation or Conversion Ordinance 2007 on next sitting.
The Committee also scheduled the meeting for next Tuesday to consider the Ordinances. The State Minister told the Committee that a plan was under consideration to revamp the Zarai Taraquai Bank of Pakistan to make it a more efficient organisation. She said that Ministry of Finance could give a detailed briefing to the Committee on the revamping plan.
The Minister admitted that currently the ZTBL was not financing efficiently to the Agricultural sector. Responding to a question about the procurement of paddy, the Minister said the issue was also discussed in the special committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday and it was decided that provincial governments and PASCO would deal with the issue of rice procurement. The Minister said that agriculture sector suffered much in the past owing to lack of infrastructure development. The Minister said that the committee would also be given presentation on supplementary grants.