US offers Pak financial aid against re-opening of NATO supply routes ahead of budget

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2012-04-10

The United States has offered a lucrative monetary offering to the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) government for the budget 2012-13 in exchange for re-opening NATO supply routes that have been closed since the deadly November 26 airstrike.

Sources told the Daily Times that the offer was made to Pakistan Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh for the upcoming budget, which the PPP-led government aims to make "people-friendly" to garner public support for the next general elections.

They added that the fresh US offer was an additional attraction for Pakistan, as Washington had already expressed its willingness to pay compensation for the November 26 airstrikes.

The US has also offered "other" taxes on NATO supplies passing through Pakistan, they added.

The offer depicts the US' keenness to have NATO supply routes re-opened as soon as possible and puts Pakistan's top leadership in dilemma over "what to do and what not to," the sources said.

They added Pakistan was ready to accept the lucrative US offer worth over three billion dollars.

The US offers comes at time when Pakistan's budget deficit is expected to rise to five percent of the GDP because key foreign inflows such as Coalition Support Fund are not likely to fully materialise by June 30, sources added.

Source: North America News.Net

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