Pakistan may loose $1.5 billion financial aid from the U.S. as a Congressional bill, which was set to debate the 10 years package, has lapsed, a news report said on Saturday.
The Pakistani daily Dawn said in a report that the Biden-Lugar Bill, which would have provided as much as $1.5 billion to Pakistan over a period of 10 years expired in 2008 along with the term of the U.S. Congress which was to debate it.
The Bill must now be reintroduced by the Senate, it said quoting Pakistani Urdu-language daily Jang.
However, Pakistan's U.S. envoy Hussain Haqqani was quoted as saying by the private television channel Geo that the bill had not been sidelined and remained an integral component of future Pakistan-U.S. relations.
He underlined that the lapsing of the Bill was a technicality of the transition of power within the U.S. and the bill would soon be reintroduced by the U.S. Senate.
The aid through the Biden-Luger bill is desperately needed to boost Pakistan's faltering economy, which has been badly hit by the unrest in the Islamic nation.
Soon after taking office, the Obama administration has indicated that the U.S. will hold Pakistan accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Government is desperately in need of financial support to boost its faltering economy.
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