Only 21.3 percent under the budgeted Coalition Support Fund (CSF) has been released to Pakistan, as per a press release issued by the State Bank of Pakistan. In the ongoing fiscal year, the government budgeted Rs 170.7 billion under the CSF, while in the previous year Rs 169.5 billion were realised under this head as per 2016-17 budget documents.

The Finance Ministry officials expressed their serious concern about the real possibility of the Trump Administration cutting Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to Pakistan which would cast a major negative impact on non-tax revenue of the government which in turn would raise the budget deficit. In background discussions, the US officials described the ongoing debate in media regarding an expected cut in CSF support for Pakistan as "total speculation."

"We''''ve seen the articles and the debate within media but any detail on our budget is total speculation. The budget is very early in the process, no decisions have been made," a US official said, requesting anonymity. The Trump Administration''''s budget blueprint "America First", which was released by the White House on March 16, suggested that military aid abroad would be shifted from grants to loans as a cost-saving measure.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017