ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: Pakistan and the United States government on Tuesday signed a five-year US $ 53 million grant agreement to support Pakistan’s economic development objectives described in the Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

The agreement was signed by the visiting US Assistant Secretary of Commerce William H. Lash III, and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on behalf of their respective governments.

After signing of the agreement, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz informed the newsmen about the salient features of the agreement. “We signed strategic objective grant agreement for economic growth which amounts to $ 53 million,” he said.

Giving the details of the grant, he said, the money would be utilized to increase economic opportunities for the poor.

In order to achieve this objective, he said, US would work with several institutions in Pakistan to increase the access of micro- finance services including micro-finance, credit, enterprises support services to broad range of people to expand the access to quality education, agriculture and business.

He said the grant would support the Khushali Bank, which is operating in 40 districts of the country and expanding its activities very rapidly to other districts. He added that through Khushali Bank this grant would expand the micro-finance coverage to larger population in Pakistan.—APP