The country faced a significant shortfall in the budget estimates with regard to foreign assistance in financial year 2014-15, as $.6 billion ie 76 percent of the total budget estimates amounting to $7.4 billion were met through multilateral and bilateral donors.
According to the latest figures released by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) the country provisionally received $5.6 billion in last financial year 2014-15 against $6.7 billion during the same period of previous year. The government budgeted foreign assistance worth $7.4 billion including $6.5 billion loans and $808.3 million grants for 2014-15 against $5.7 billion budgeted estimates for financial year 2013-14. The country has received a total of $514.53 million as grants and over $5.1 billion as loans during the financial year 2014-15.
The government budgeted estimates of foreign assistance were about $8.7 billion for the fiscal year 2015-16 including both grants and loans which is higher by 10.5 percent than the revised estimates of 2014-15 and 21.3 percent higher than the budget estimates of 2014-15.
Pakistan provisionally received foreign assistance of over $1.2 billion in the month of June (2014-15) against $466 million during the same period of last year (2013-14)--mainly because of $828 million disbursed by International Development Association (IDA) during the same period. IDA emerged as the largest single lender with disbursement of $1.123 billion in the fiscal year 2014-15 but missed the budgeted estimate of $1.66 billion. IDA disbursed $828 million in the month of June.
The IDB(S-Term) disbursed $1.004 billion in the fiscal year 2014-15 including $140 million in June, which surpassed the budgeted estimate of $500 million. Asian Development Bank (ADB) disbursed $29.94 million in June while a total of $449.79 million were disbursed in last financial year against the budgeted estimates of $1092.19 million. China was expected to be the largest single donor to Pakistan with a budgeted inflow of $1365.49 million. The country received a total of $1.027 billion from China during the period under review; while $89.63 million were received in the month of June.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) released a total of $34.2 million in the financial year 2014-15 including $16.86 million in June. Islamic Development Bank (IDB) disbursed $131 million in 2014-15 including $3.5 million in June.
USA released $2.39 million in the month of June and about $97.41 million in fiscal year 2014-15, Saudi Arabia disbursed $27.07 million during the period under review, however no amount was released in June, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) disbursed $22.43 million in the financial year 2014-15 including $1.15 million in June, whereas Japan released $6.65 million in June while a total of $137.5 million were disbursed during the fiscal year. EU disbursed $20.89 million and Germany disbursed $40.15 million in the fiscal year 2014-15.
The government had budgeted around $80 million from Australia, Canada, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), Italy and UNDP for the fiscal year 2014-15; however no disbursements have been made under these heads so far as per documents. The amount does not include releases amounting to $4.05 billion from International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the September 4, 2013 approved $6.64 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
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