ISLAMABAD- US Ambassador to Pakistan Mr. Richard G. Olson called on the Federal Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at the Finance Ministry today and discussed the civilian assistance package under the Kerry Lugar Act.

The Ambassador said that the congress has notified a $532m assistance package for Pakistan, with its break up being given for different sectors like energy, defense against terrorism, economic growth, community building, education and health.

The Finance Minister remarked that the government of Pakistan should spend a large amount of this assistance for the rehabilitation of the TDPs of North Waziristan Agency.

The Minister told the ambassador that they are preparing for giving a briefing to the donors about the rehabilitation work being carried out for restoring the life of the Temporarily Displaced People of NWA and the Flood affectees.  He said that the floods were unforeseen calamity, it will surely have an impact on our growth projections but still we are hoping to recoup under the current circumstances.

Mr. Olson expressed grief and offered condolences to the Minister on the recent incident in Peshawar, in which many precious and innocent lives were lost. The Minister said that this is one of the saddest incidents in the history of Pakistan but the Government has made a firm resolve that the issue of terrorism will be dealt with utmost force and on this issue the whole nation and political leadership has a consensus.

The US Ambassador congratulated the Minister on the successful completion of 4th and 5th IMF review and taking the reserve to $15billion which has availed the Government the opportunity to become a member of IBRD and enjoy better Financial Packages.

Mr. Olson also discussed the agenda for the expected visit of Secretary Kerry to Pakistan in January 2015. The Finance Minister discussed with the Ambassador the speedy delivery of Boeing aircrafts which the PIA has to acquire to upgrade its fleet as restructuring the state asset is one of the important agenda items in the priority list of the Government.

The meeting was attended by Rana Assad Amin, Advisor to the Finance Division and Mr. Shahid Mahmood Khan, SA to Finance Minister and other members of the US team.