Pakistan receives $734.5 million under CSF
November 24, 2014
ALI HUSSAIN & TAHIR AMIN
Pakistan has received $734.5 million on the account of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) from the United States in the current fiscal year, and the Obama administration has requested Congress for authorisation of an additional $1 billion for FY15, according to officials at the Ministry of Finance and the US Embassy here.
An official of the US Embassy told
Business Recorder that the United States government disbursed $363 million in CSF to Pakistan on September 29, in support of the US Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) for the period of July-September 2013.
This payment is the latest in a series of reimbursements the US has made to a number of allies for expenses incurred in support of the Operation Enduring Freedom, the US official said.
"The CSF disbursement is a reimbursement for Pakistani support to OEF and is a positive sign of co-operation on our shared national security priorities," said the official.
To a question about the expected amount to be released in the near future on account of the pending CSF amount, the official said that Congress authorised reimbursements to Pakistan in the National Defence Authorisation Acts (NDAA) of up to $1.2 billion each for FY14 and FY13. The US Congress has not passed the FY15 NDAA and established CSF appropriations for Pakistan. However, the Obama administration requested $1 billion for Pakistan for FY15, she said.
She pointed out that Congress will need to authorise funding for a reimbursement program beyond FY15, adding "we continue discussions with Pakistan on such a program". According to the official, Pakistan has received over $12 billion from the United States in CSF reimbursements since 2001. Official sources at the Ministry of Finance told
Business Recorder that the government was expecting to receive about $1.4 billion in the current fiscal year from the US under the head of CSF.
The country has already received two tranches totalling $725 million in the current financial year, said a senior official of the Finance Ministry, adding that the first tranche of $371.5 million was received on August 28, 2014, while the second tranche of $363 million was received on September 30, 2014.
According to the sources, one of the biggest concerns for Pakistan is to ensure the continuation of the CSF and the matter is currently under discussion between the concerned authorities of two countries. In the Economic Survey 2013-14, the incumbent government claimed that the war against terrorism and invasion of Afghanistan by the US have incurred losses of around $102.5 billion to Pakistan during past 13 years.
The survey added that the conflict and instability in Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks on the US and their regional implications had very negative repercussions for the years following the US invasion of Afghanistan which witnessed not only a huge influx of Afghan refugees across the border into Pakistan but also witnessed a sudden spike in the frequency and scale of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
