US Ambassador Richard G. Olson Wednesday said the United States would support the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam to help reduce energy problems being faced by Pakistan. He was talking to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at his office. The ambassador said the USAID would finance the feasibility studies for the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam. The US support would comfort the international financial institutions, he added. Ambassador Olson termed the recently concluded programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) good and said the “US supports the programme”. Dilating on the details of the progress made so far with the IMF, Senator Dar termed them positive, saying negotiations on the size and tranches of the loan were the only issues pending now. Dar also welcomed the interest shown by the US Congress for its support in carrying out feasibility studies for Pakistan’s flagship storage project Diamer Bhasha Dam. During the meeting, the issue of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the two countries also came under discussion and the finance minister said that he intended to obtain input from all the stakeholders.
