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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that she will urge President Barack Obama to veto a bill which seeks to restrict US assistance to countries like Pakistan.
In a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, she described the bill the panel passed last week as ‘restrictive’ and said she would urge President Obama to veto it if it reached his desk.
The bill has to pass the full House and the Senate before it reaches the White House.
The bill cuts multilateral assistance by $803 million from fiscal 2011 and by nearly $2.2 billion from President Obama’s request for fiscal 2012.
It also proposes new restrictions on aid to Pakistan, requiring the secretary of state to certify that Pakistan has made progress in fighting terrorism and is taking steps to stop nuclear proliferation.
The bill denies President Obama’s requests for general capital increases for the World Bank, the Asian, Inter-American and African Development Banks.
These funds are aimed primarily at middle-income countries and are lent at near market rates. Lending to low and low-middle income nations is also trimmed significantly in the bill.
