US looking forward to boosting its 'broad-based' ties with Pakistan: Blinken

The US reiterated its desire to strengthen its "broadbased" bilateral relations with Pakistan when Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to State Department Spokesman Ned Price.

"The Secretary (of State) underscored the resolute U.S.-Pakistan commitment to Afghan stability and combatting terrorism," Price said in a statement issued in Washington after the phone call with FM Zardari.

"The Secretary (of State) and Foreign Minister also highlighted ongoing engagement on trade and investment, climate, energy, health, and education," the statement said, noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of U.S.Pakistani relations.

"We look forward to strengthening our cooperation," the statement added.

Responding to a question at his daily news briefing, Spokesman Price said the United States will continue cooperating with Pakistan on counter -terrorism and border security, while reiterating Washington's condemnation of last month's terrorist attack in Karachi University, amid spike in such attacks across the country.

"We value our bilateral relationship. We want to continue to work together in areas where we do have mutual interests with our Pakistani partners. That includes counter-terrorism. That includes border security as well, " he had said.

Price was reacting to the question whether the U.S. was reviewing the former Trump administrationimposed suspension of security aid to Islamabad following the deadly terrorist attack in Karachi, as such attacks emanating from Afghanistan continue to rise across Pakistan.

The Ministry of Finance here on Thursday clarified that there had been no fresh borrowings by the government from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

"In fact the government has been retiring its previous stock of debt with the SBP on its maturity," the ministry said in a statement while responding to news circulating on social media whereby an impression was being created that government had borrowed from the central bank. The statement termed it grossly incorrect which depicted the limited understanding of the monetary variables.

It said, as reported in the monetary tables (M2), the government's borrowing from the SBP for budgetary purposes was calculated as the difference between the government's stock of borrowing from the SBP and its deposits with the central bank.