Foreign aid drops 60pc in first quarter

Amid delays in securing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) support package, Pakistan’s foreign assistance inflows plunged by 60 per cent to $2.3 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July-September), down from about $5.73bn in the same period last year. In its monthly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA) released on Tuesday, the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) said the country received $1.3bn in the first quarter against an annual target of $19.4bn. This marks a significant decrease from the $3.527bn received in the same period last year when the yearly target was $17.6bn. The report does not account for around $1bn disbursed by the IMF on the final day of September, which is recorded separately by the State Bank of Pakistan.