British aid minister Ms Clare Short announced today that Britain had written off £20 million sterling in Pakistan debt and would provide new funding of £105 million over the next two years.
"This government has made very real progress in implementing reforms and this increase in funding will continue so long as that effort is seen to be effective", she said of the administration of military ruler General Pervez Musharraf whose support for the US-led attack on Afghanistan has brought his country in from the cold.
She said Britain would write off £20 million owed to the Commonwealth Development Corp and announced an immediate £15 million in a budgetary support package as well as a further £45 million a year over the next two.