US ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE and MILITARY AID TO PAKISTAN
- Commenced shortly after the country’s creation in 1947
- US obligated nearly $67 billion (in constant 2011 dollars) to Pakistan between 1951 and 2011
- 2009 US renewed commitment to Pakistan
- US approved the Enhanced Partnership for Pakistan Act
(commonly known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, or KLB)
Act authorized a tripling of US economic and development-related assistance to Pakistan, or $7.5 billion over five years (FY2010 to FY2014).
Between FY2002 and FY2009, only 30 percent of US foreign assistance to Pakistan was appropriated for economic-related needs; the remaining 70 percent was allocated to security-related assistance.
Since the KLB authorization (FY2010 through the FY2014 budget request), 41 percent of assistance has been allocated for economic-related assistance. [So that would mean military assistance exceeds economic]
US aid pledged to Pakistan remains significant compared to funding for other development initiatives.
US $1.16 billion request for foreign assistance to Pakistan exceeds requests for:
- Global Hunger and Food Security initiative ($1.06 billion);
- Millennium Challenge Corporation ($0.90 billion);
- Global Climate Change initiative ($0.48 billion).
- US $1.6 billion request for foreign assistance to Pakistan:
- not far behind the requested $1.36 billion for the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)
which makes loans and grants to the world’s 81 poorest countries and is the single largest source of development finance in these locations.
Source: Greenbook - obtained from site: CGDEV.ORG
Pakistan is the fourth largest recipient of US assistance, trailing Israel, Afghanistan, and Egypt.
US has pledged seven times more aid to Pakistan than to Bangladesh, a neighboring country with a comparable population size and similar development needs.
US largest contributor, nearly a third of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Pakistan (30 projects total commitment $5 billion), followed by:
- World Bank’s International Development Association (21 percent of total ODA);
- Japan (14 percent);
- United Kingdom (8 percent); and
- EU Institutions (4 percent).
Asian Development Bank (ADB) is Pakistan’s biggest multilateral partner, providing assistance of $4.4 billion from 2009 through 2012.
IMF disbursed credit worth $5.2 billion to Pakistan from FY2008 to FY2010 following the 2008 economic crises.
In 2011 the Government of Pakistan decided to end the IMF program, but following the country’s civilian election in May 2013 the new government, led by the Pakistani Muslim League (Nawaz), has entered into a new provisional agreement with the Fund worth $6.6 billion for a bailout package for FY2013-2016.
Although the IMF and Pakistan have an ‘unhappy history’, the new government is said to have little choice due to its balance of payments crisis and sharply declining foreign exchange reserves.
Extracts Only - Source - http://www.cgdev.org/page/aid-pakistan-numbers
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In an earlier post -
here - it was noted that a World Trade Organisation (WTO) 'Trade Facilitation Agreement', freeing up trade to bring TRILLIONS into the world economy, is being negotiated.
India, Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela are seeking to increase public stockholding for food security.
WTO stipulates
no more than 10%' value of food/grains production to be allocated to 'public stockholdings'.
However, this is based on calculations dating back to 1986-1988 and therefore not in step with
inflation figures.
While India is staying strong in the negotiations, asking for a permanent solution on food security, US Secretary of State, John Kerry is unsympathetic and playing games with peoples lives:
Secretary of state John Kerry, before starting for India on
Wednesday morning, had expressed the hope that India’s opposition to TFA
would wither away, adding that this was a test case for the country’s
commitment to advance liberalisation of global trade and investment. [source - here]
Hmmmm ... let's see, 'test case' for 'liberalisation of global trade' VERSUS '
food security' ... and John Kerry's hoping these countries' food needs are just going to 'wither away'?
Never mind food. Let's make PROFIT and let's sell WEAPONS.
China and Pakistan, also parties to the proposed agreement, are ready to sign the WTO trade agreement set before them.
China, I figured, is cashed up. Oddly, it's not very community minded for a communist nation (or are they no longer communists?).
What's Pakistan's story?
Pakistan looks like it's 'owned' by 'US and company', judging by the amount of US financial support it has received and continues to receive, as well as financial support from US allies and the IMF.
What I found shocking is that the amount of US support Pakistan has received is
almost as much as the US contribution request for World Bank's allocation to
81 of the world's poorest countries!
Apparently, large portions of the US aid in Pakistan go on military spending.
The guess is that the US supplies Pakistan with arms, so the money would go from the US public purse back to back to US private military manufacturing companies.
What I'm unclear about is what is a freebie and what is repayable by Pakistan.
It looks like there may be non-reimbursable portions of US aid, which is what? Is that non-repayable?
Well if '
reimbursable' is repayable, non-reimbursable must be
non-repayable.
Until 1990, the United States provided military aid to Pakistan to
modernize its conventional defensive capability. The United States
allocated about 40% of its assistance package to non-reimbursable
credits for military purchases, the third-largest program behind Israel
and Egypt.
The remainder of the aid program was devoted to economic
assistance.
Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied Pakistan further
military assistance due to the discovery of its program to develop
nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened following Pakistan's nuclear
tests in response to India's May 1998 tests and the military coup of
1999. The events of September 11, 2001 and Pakistan's quick agreement to
support the United States led to a waiving of the sanctions, and
military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to
enhance Pakistan's capacity to police its western border. In 2003,
President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan
with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This
assistance package commenced during FY 2005. [source - US Dept of State - http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/pakistan/47936.htm]
Receipt of non-repayable money sounds pretty good. Send some my way. LOL.
As for the Nuclear weapons? We're all doomed!
Anyway, that's a bit of a fill-in on Pakistan, which might be handy if you're anything like me and clueless about what's going on. LOL.
