Most US aid to Pakistan still not disbursed

Report by US Government Accountability Office says most economic aid for fiscal year 2010 remains in America's hands.

A report by the US Government Accountability Office has said that most of the US economic aid to Pakistan for the last year is still in America’s hands, says a report in the Foreign Policy magazine.

The aid package which totals over $1.5 billion per year is a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to strengthen the US-Pakistan strategic partnership. The report says that only $179.5 million out of $1.51 billion in US civilian aid to Pakistan was actually disbursed in the fiscal year 2010.

The Foreign Policy report says the almost all of money was distributed as part of the Kerry-Lugar aid package passed last year. The report states that $75 million of those funds were transferred to bolster the Benazir Income Support Programme; $45 million was given to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to support "centers of excellence" at Pakistani universities; $19.5 million went to support Pakistan's Fulbright Scholarship programme; $23.3 million went to flood relief; and $1.2 billion remains unspent.