Islamabad, Aug 29:
Recent global assessments paint a grim picture of Pakistan’s foreign aid landscape, where billions in international support are routinely diverted before reaching the people most in need. According to US economist Steve Hanke, nearly 37 per cent of foreign aid to Pakistan is lost to corruption and elite misappropriation. This claim, backed by audits and studies from American think tanks and international journalists, underscores the fragility of development partnerships with Islamabad, noted Dr. Sakariya Kareem in Asian Lite.
Since 1948, Pakistan has received more than $78 billion in US aid, along with billions from European and multilateral donors. Yet research by Harvard’s Belfer Centre and the Centre for Global Development shows that the impact has been negligible. Instead of strengthening communities, much of the aid has been absorbed into what scholars describe as “elite capture.”
Investigations reveal that assistance meant for disaster relief, counterterrorism, and development often vanishes into inflated contracts, opaque bureaucracies, and private accounts. In particular, the Pakistani military has been singled out as a dominant beneficiary, commanding a rising share of the national budget despite falling tax revenues.
Donors have responded by tightening oversight. The US now deploys auditors and risk assessment teams, while European partners impose stricter protocols. Yet entrenched networks adapt quickly, limiting the effectiveness of these controls.
The cost of this dysfunction falls on Pakistan’s vulnerable populations. Aid intended for flood recovery, healthcare, and education is diluted, leaving the Human Development Index stagnant and infrastructure underdeveloped.
With external debt exceeding $125 billion, much of it tied to ineffective aid cycles, experts warn that unless Pakistan tackles corruption and entrenched patronage, international assistance will remain trapped in a cycle of dependency, enriching the elite while leaving ordinary citizens behind.
