akistan to become biggest beneficiary of British aid

London, Aug 1(ANI): Pakistan is reportedly set to become the biggest beneficiary of Britain's 2.9-billion pounds aid to developing countries.

In the last financial year, Pakistan received 140 million pounds from the Department for International Development (DFID) making it the sixth largest recipient behind India, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Sudan and Tanzania.

According to the Daily Times, the aid is expected to rise up to 40 percent.

"Within three years, Pakistan would probably receive more money from the recast budget than any other country," The Daily Times quoted Andrew Mitchell, DFID Secretary, as saying.

He said that there is an education emergency in Pakistan, as the country has more children out of school than anywhere in the world.

The DFID Secretary also announced that Britain would provide for 300,000 girls to go to school and for three million textbooks.

"Our efforts are focused on accountability, building up the sinews of the state, focusing on education where you have a rapidly increasing population. International development is one of the only two departments, along with health, that does not have to shrink its budget," Mitchell said. (ANI)