WORLD : Pakistan Hints Cutoff of Interest
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The government of Pakistan hinted today that it may stop interest payments on its foreign debt unless Washington restores military and economic aid it suspended this month amid fear that Islamabad is developing nuclear weapons.
“We have no choice--either we starve our people or stop paying the interest,” caretaker Interior Minister Mian Zahid Safraz told a news conference.
He said almost 90% of the U.S. aid to Pakistan is consumed by interest payments on its $15-billion foreign debt.
Islamabad was expecting $548 million next year as part of a six-year, $4-billion aid package from Washington. But on Oct. 1, the U.S. aid was suspended because President Bush was unable to certify to Congress that Pakistan was not developing nuclear weapons.
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