USAID director: No change in US aid program to Egypt
Egypt-USA, Economics, 3/2/2002

US Agency for International Development (USAID) Director in Cairo Willard Pearson said the aid pledged by the US to Egypt during the Sharm El-Sheikh donors conference will not negatively affect the programs sponsored by the agency in Egypt to help the government's development plans in the various parties of the country.

In statements to MENA on Friday, Pearson said that the total aid the US offered to Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh conference reached $ 854 million, in addition to $ 959 million channeled to Egypt in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

"The total of the US assistance to the Egyptian government is put at S 2.813 billion," added the US official.

The American official reiterated that this aid is considered additional funds.

"Despite the volume of US economic assistance is estimated at $ 656 million per year, offering any funds to Egypt required firstly taking the approval of the Congress on an annual basis at the time when the US budget is endorsed every year. This will not be done over the coming three years as the Congress had already approved offering economic aid to for three years for the first time," he said.

He explained that this initiative is stemming from the utmost importance the American Administration and the Congress are attaching to Egypt, a vital country in the Middle East region -and an ally to the US that has played distinguished role in the US-led war against terrorism.

The US extends 655 million of annual economic aid to Egypt plus $ 1.3 billion in military aid, which are annually reduced by percent since 1998 to 2009 upon a decision from the US Congress with the start of a new stage of relations between the two countries based on equal partnership instead of assistance.

The donor countries and institutions that participated in the world Bank's consultative group conference, held in February in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, pledged to extend $ 0.3 billion over the coming three years, including $ 2.1 billion to be channeled into the Egyptian government by the end of this year to help it face the negative impact of the September 11 terror attacks on the US.

Previous Stories:
  Volume of trade between Egypt and US is 4 billion dollars   (2/27/2002)
  US keen to assist in industrial development   (12/13/2001)
  US ready to offer financial assistance to contain September's adverse impacts   (12/11/2001)

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