The crisis caused by the US-led military action in Afghanistan will cost Pakistan up to 2.5 billion dollars, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said Sunday.
"I think it all depends how long the various actions will last but I think our preliminary estimates are anywhere from one billion to two-and-a-half billion dollars for the year," Aziz told reporters after securing a promise of aid from a visiting US official.
"If it ends soon it will be on the lower side of this range, if it continues for longer it will be on the higher side so it is a substantial cost."
Pakistan has already appealed to donors, such as the Asian Development Bank, for more than 300 million dollars in aid to cope with an expected influx of Afghan refugees because of US military strikes.
Aziz said another blow to Pakistan's economy caused by the conflict was a rise in international shipping insurance premiums.
However Aziz emerged Sunday from a three-hour meeting with US Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson confident Pakistan's support for the military action would eventually reap major financial rewards.
The United States has already waived various economic sanctions placed on Pakistan after it conducted nuclear tests in 1998, and Larson said Sunday there would be more economic benefits.
Larson said Washington would support Pakistan's bid for aid from the International Monetary Fund and debt relief from its main foreign creditors.
The US market would also be opened up to Pakistani textile imports and encourage other international donors to give Pakistan immediate and sustained economic aid, Larson said.
Larson made it clear the new US policy of helping Pakistan's economy was formed because of Islamabad's support for the US-led assaults on Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
US air strikes started on October 7 in a bid to force the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, whom Washington accuses of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"We have a great deal of admiration for the economic management of Pakistan," Larson said at a press conference with Aziz.
"We also have a great deal of admiration for the government's response to the terrorist attacks on September 11."
Larson stressed that "the US wants to be a partner with Pakistan for the long term" -- Islamabad, (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
