Pakistan has managed to seek cancellation of over $650 million it owed to Canada, Italy and Germany in debt, says a government statement. Subsequent to Paris Club-III rescheduling around three years ago, the government initiated dialogue for debt cancellation with these donor countries in order to reduce Pakistan's external debt burden. As a result of these efforts, Pakistan succeeded in reducing its external debt by almost $652 million. Out of this, $392 million have been written off by Canada against expenditure on educational programmes, particularly those focussing on to teachers' training. Similarly, Italy has written off $100 million each against expenditure on Afghan refugees and reconstruction in the earthquake-affected areas. Finally, Germany has cancelled Pakistan's loan of $60 million against expenditure on earthquake reconstruction.
