FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
After President Trump’s lashed out at Pakistan in his first tweet of the year for the country’s failure to act decisively to counter-terrorism and accused it of playing a double game, the U.S. state department formally announced a halt in aid and security assistance to Pakistan. The U.S. state department said on Thursday that it was suspending at least $1 billion in assistance to Pakistan until it takes further action against Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militant groups. The state department said that the decision reflects Trump administration’s frustration that Pakistan has not done enough against these two groups which have long sanctuaries in Pakistan to launch attacks in neighboring Afghanistan killing the U.S. and other forces.
The state department has not confirmed any amount that is being suspended, however, calculations suggest that the amount could be as much as $1.1 billion. According to U.S. officials, two main categories will be affected; Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and Coalition Support Funds (CSF). CSF, which reimburses Pakistan for counter-terrorism operation and comes under the defense department authority has $900 million funding available for Pakistan for the fiscal year 2017 but none of that money has been disbursed yet. FMF, which funds purchases of U.S. military hardware, training and services and comes under the State Department Authority and amounts to $255 million has also been frozen.
In addition to the freeze, the United States has also put Pakistan on a special watch list for severe violations of religious freedom. A statement from the state department says, “The Secretary also placed Pakistan on a Special Watch List for severe violations of religious freedom.”
