United States funded Coalition Support Fund (CSF) still owes $678 million to Pakistan as reparations for on-going military operations, sources in the Finance Ministry told Business Recorder here on Thursday. Pakistan has received $1085 million under CSF so far while $678 million are still pending.
"We are hopeful that till the end of the current fiscal year, 2010-11, we will receive the rest of the $678 million military assistance", sources disclosed. CSF was created after 9/11 to reimburse key allies for providing assistance to the US in a global war on terror. These countries include Pakistan, Poland, Jordan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Djibouti, Oman, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Tonga, Slovakia, Romania, Thailand, Lithuania, Mongolia, Albania, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Sources told Business Recorder that USA has already provided $85 million for Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), more than 300 million dollars for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) funded under the UN and the World Food Programme (WFP) and 45 million dollars for Higher Education Commission (HEC). The policy interests of USA in Pakistan include counter terrorism, South Asian regional stability, democratisation and human rights, economic reform, and efforts to counter narcotics trafficking.
According to an analysis conducted by the Economic Affairs Division in the Finance Ministry, total US financial assistance to the country since 2002 at both civilian and military level is estimated at $8.5 billion. US assistance to Pakistan is split almost evenly between civilian and military assistance with civilian aid estimated at $4.5 billion and military aid at $4 billion. Total loss of economic productivity in the country due to the war against terror stands at around $43 billion since the year 2002.