Economic Affairs Minister calls for early completion of USAID projects

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtiar has called for early completion of USAID projects.

Makhdum Khusro Bakhtiar has chaired the tripartite wrap-up meeting on Portfolio Review of USAID Projects in Pakistan at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The meeting was attended by officials of USAID and senior officers of the Provincial Governments & lined departments.

Pakistan and the USA signed the Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA) on 30th September 2010. The volume of committed economic assistance under PEPA is USD 4.275 billion and out of this, in the last ten years, USAID has disbursed USD 3.4 billion to Pakistan.

The total number of on-going projects is 65, encompassing socio-economic sectors like education, health, energy, agriculture, infrastructure/reconstruction, democracy & governance, economic growth, and resilience.

The Minister appreciated the grant extended by USAID worth USD 32 million under PEPA to curtail the negative impact on the economy during the Pandemic, which remained the highest grant assistance for combating COVID in Pakistan.

Read more: COVID-19: Khusro welcomes UK’s £2.6 million aid to Pakistan

He laid the stress to improve this portfolio by synergized the development agenda to maximize the utility of this aid program in the country. He said that the government had simplified project planning, approval of and execution process to expedite the process of project implementation.

The Federal Minister also indicated that the government would review the policy framework for grant assistance to make it demand-driven, public centric and multi-sectorial to cultivate maximum benefits for communities. He flagged the need for USAID economic grant for BISP, energy sector reforms, and western corridor to strengthen the portfolio.