U.S. Refutes ‘No Direct Money' Allegation

September 16, 2009

Islamabad - "The U.S. government will continue to deliver assistance to Pakistan through a variety of long-standing vectors as required by American law to ensure transparency and accountability, and is not depriving the Pakistani government any degree of direct funding as a result of a lack of confidence or trust," U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson said today.

Ambassador Patterson made the comments in response to a September 13 news report headlined "U.S. says no direct money to PPP government," which suggested that the level of direct assistance was determined based on an assessment of the sitting government's performance.

"All over the world, the United States delivers aid through a variety of mechanisms, which can include a degree of budgetary support," Ambassador Patterson said.  "In Pakistan's case, this direct support will be included as part of the package through various delivery vehicles. We have provided more than $ 3 billion in combined security, economic, and development assistance since President Zardari was elected."

Ambassador Patterson anticipates that some of the anticipated non-military aid package under the Kerry-Lugar legislation before Congress will be in fact directly transferred to the government and the remainder channeled through qualifying government institutions and private sector firms as well as Pakistani and international NGO partners toward projects mutually agreed upon through consultative process.

"There's huge internal capacity to develop Pakistan, and we want to tap into it," she said.   "Using a deliberate qualifying process, we will stream more funding through national, provincial, and local institutions, and build their capacity to work with us in the future."

In his State Department briefing Sunday after returning from a tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Jacob Lew acknowledged that Pakistan is "anxious" to have as much aid as possible flow through the government.

Ambassador Patterson said partisan politics is not a factor in the debate about U.S. assistance to Pakistan.  "We are a friend of Pakistan, and we support the government elected by the Pakistani people," she said.