LONDON: Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen urged the US to channel its assistance through Pakistani agencies to save on high intermediation costs incurred by US counterparts.

In an interview with Financial Times, Tarin said half of the planned assistance pledged by the US to Pakistan is likely to be wastefully spent on administrative costs

“Whatever aid the US is giving must have full impact on the ground which is why they should route as much of this aid through our agencies than their own agencies,” Tarin told the Financial Times.

“Frankly, we only receive almost 50-55 per cent of the aid, 40-45 per cent becomes expenses because of intermediation costs by the US.”

Tarin added that Pakistan would resist any linkage of financial assistance to the country’s nuclear programme or confidence-building measures with arch-rival India. He said aid would be “unacceptable” if it was tied to greater monitoring of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The newspaper adds that Pakistan has become one of the largest recipients of US aid as Washington seeks to help stabilise the country threatened by a Taliban insurgency. US President Barack Obama plans to raise economic assistance to about $1.5bn a year, or $7.5bn over the next five years. LINK