US to reduce military aid to Pakistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, May 24, IRNA -- The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, in a briefing has said that aid to Pakistan would be reduced, though he did not give concrete details, local media reported.
"The State Department still has some flexibility to come up with a final plan on that, but I do know that we have proposed to move several countries from a direct grant program to a loan guarantee program," he said.
US military assistance to partners and allies reached $13.5 billion in 2015, or 28 per cent of all US foreign aid spending that year, according to the Congressional Research Service. Most grants through the Foreign Military Financing [FMF] program go to Pakistan, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
Pakistan has been receiving US financial aid for its cooperation in US attack in Afghanistan in 2001.
Under President Donald Trump's proposal, the United States would spend 29.1 per cent less on the State Department and "other international programs" in the 2018 fiscal year compared to 2017, a decrease of US$11.5 billion. That decrease includes a re-shaping of the way some countries receive military aid from the United States.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the proposal, said the foreign military grants could affect Pakistan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Ukraine, Colombia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Majority of US assistance to Pakistan is from the Coalition Support Fund which is reimbursement to Pakistan for expenses already incurred and compensation for facilities made available to the coalition forces.
272**1723**1771
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
