Pakistan receives $1.1 billion from United States under Coalition Support Fund

After a lot of talk and wait, the United States has finally released $1.1 billion to Pakistan of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), the first installment of its kind since December 2010.

The United States released the funds after Islamabad and Washington inked an agreement governing Ground Line of Communications (GLoC) for NATO forces battling in Afghanistan.

The fund paid $8.8 billion to Pakistan between 2002 and 2011 and is designed to reimburse the country for the cost of counter-insurgency operations.

However, Pakistan stopped claiming the money as relations collapsed in the wake of May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden (OBL).

The bilateral relations between the two further deteriorated when the NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani troops and subsequently Islamabad imposed a seven-month blockade on NATO supply-line in protest of the incident.

Spokesperson to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Syed Wasimuddin while speaking to the media confirmed they received $1.118 billion from the coalition support fund last night.

It was the first installment since $633 million in December 2010, he added.

The amount is particularly beneficial to the country which is making efforts to head off a new financial crisis created by poor tax revenues. Overgenerous subsides, corruption and mismanagement are the other reasons of the crisis.

It may be noted that Pakistan and US had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 31, 2012 to regularize the NATO supplies to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

The MoU, drafted under the light of the UN Charter and in line with the recommendations of the Parliament, has replaced the existing arrangement for NATO supplies.

The Obama administration linked the aid to Pakistan military operations and its supports to US-allied government in Afghanistan.

It pledged to pay $ 2.5 dollar to Pakistan on the account of expenses to fight against Taliban and insurgents of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 3 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.