War on terror cost Pakistan Rs 297 billion, Senate told   

• Finance minister tells Senate the US only provided Pakistan $111m out of promised $132m

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has spent at least Rs 297 billion in the fight against the terrorism in the last decade, Finance Minister Rana Afzal apprised Senate on Wednesday.

The United States had agreed to provide Pakistan $132 million for counter-terror efforts, of which only $111m has been received, disclosed the finance minister in a written reply to the upper house over the cost of anti-terror efforts.

The finance ministry’s reply revealed that Rs152.925bn was released during Operation Zarb-i-Azb to the military, whereas over Rs67bn was allocated to law enforcement agencies besides provision of more than Rs31bn to bodies falling under the defence ministry.

The ministry further said that an additional Rs45bn was given to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat for the rehabilitation and the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The finance minister further informed that the government also took steps to stop the smuggling of foreign currency, and has restricted travellers going abroad from carrying more than $10,000 at a time.

Moreover, the government through a State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) notification directed that travellers cannot carry more than $60,000 abroad per year in a bid to curb smuggling of currency.

The federal government had also taken steps to stop the circulation of counterfeit foreign currency through currency exchange dealers, the minister informed.