Pakistan and Italy have reached an agreement to extend the timeline of the Pakistan-Italian Debt Swap Agreement until the end of next year through the Exchange of Letters.
The Italian Ambassador in Pakistan H.E. Andreas Ferrarese and Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs signed agreement in Islamabad today.
During the extension period, the remaining activities of PIDSA will be completed i.e., the remaining debt will be canceled, completion of ongoing PIDSA projects, taking over of assets, impact evaluation of the PIDSA Programme and final report of the PIDSA Programme.
Earlier, both countries signed an agreement for development Swap, on 2006, which came into force in 2009. Approximately one hundred million dollars (26.52 million dollars and 58.74 million euros) equivalent to 8.276 billion rupees of Pakistan’s debt owed to Italy is to be swapped for expenditure on development projects around the country on Health, Education, Agriculture, and Environment, Micro Credit Schemes, Poverty Alleviation, Rural Development and Infrastructure.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs thanked the Italian government for providing assistance under the Debt Swap Agreement and other Technical Assistance and emphasized further enhancing the bilateral ties between the two countries.
