US temporarily halts foreign aid to Pakistan, several projects impacted

The United States has paused foreign assistance to Pakistan for re-evaluation. The decision was taken in line with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, an official at the US Consulate in Karachi told Geo News.

“Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary Rubio has paused all US foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,” Tammy Bruce, spokesman for the US Department of State, said, as per Geo News.

The pause in foreign aid has halted a number of projects across several key areas, including health, agriculture and education. A number of USAID projects in Pakistan, including the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), have also come to a standstill.

Five projects in the energy sector, including Power Sector Improvement Activity, Pakistan Private Sector Energy Activity, Energy Sector Advisory Services Project, Clean Energy Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program and Pakistan Climate Financing Activity, have halted due to the decision. 

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In its statement, the White House said that the pause is for a period of 90 days for a thorough review. 

“All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy, to be conducted within 90 days of this order,” statement said. “The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall enforce this pause through its apportionment authority.”