US to give Pakistan $1 bn in aid

TOKYO: The United States will give Pakistan USD one billion in aid over two years, the US envoy Richard Holbrooke announced on Thursday as an international donors' conference opened in Tokyo.

Holbrooke "announced the United States' intent to provide support to the government of Pakistan totalling USD one billion over a two-year period (2009-2010)," according to a statement by State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood.

Holbrooke, US President Barack Obama's chief point man on both Afghanistan and Pakistan, was joining a one-day meeting of some 30 donor nations to raise what the World Bank hopes will be USD four to six billion in aid pledges.

Japan has also pledged aid of up to USD one billion over the next two years.

The statement said "the US assistance, which is subject to congressional approval, will support development and social safety net spending to meet Pakistan's short-term needs," as identified by the International Monetary Fund.

"This one billion dollars is a down payment on President Obama's commitment to support a bipartisan bill in the US Congress, co-sponsored by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, that authorises 1.5 billion dollars in direct support to the Pakistan people every year over the next five years," it said.

The aid will be used to build schools, roads, and hospitals; help farmers improve their ability to raise crops and deliver them to the marketplace, stimulate new energy infrastructure and strengthen democracy, it said.