ISLAMABAD, April 20: Canada has written off a $392 million loan to Pakistan that will be spent on the country’s education system. An agreement was signed on Thursday between the economic affairs division of the ministry of economic affairs and statistics and the Canadian government, according to an official announcement.

Canada, a member of the Paris Club, has written off the $392 million loan of its Official Development Assistance (ODA) scheme. The money will be spent on teachers’ training in the four provinces.

Some years ago, Pakistan had initiated dialogue with the Paris Club for the rescheduling and debt swap following the directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Gen Pervez Musharraf to reduce Pakistan’s external debt burden.

An official announcement said that the economic affairs division had been vigorously pursuing this initiative through regular contacts with donors.

Over the last six months, Pakistan has succeeded in reducing its external debt burden by about $652 million, out of which $392 million belonged to the Canadian government.

Earlier, the economic affairs division had finalised a debt cancellation of $200 million with Italy of which half of the amount is being cancelled against Pakistan’s expenditures on Afghan refugees and the remaining against reconstruction in the earthquake-hit areas.

According to the finance ministry, negotiations have also been completed with Germany for waiving off a $62 million loan against expenditures on reconstruction in the earthquake-affected areas.