Pakistan and Italy have extended the timeline of the Pakistan-Italian Debt Swap Agreement (PIDSA) until December 2017.

On Thursday, Italian Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese and Economic Affairs Division Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz signed an ‘Exchange of Letters’.

According to a press release from the Economic Affairs Division, the procedures, modalities, terms, and conditions described in the November 2006 agreement remain unchanged.

PIDSA will complete the remaining activities during the extension period, including canceling the remaining debt, completing the ongoing projects, handing over assets, and completing the impact evaluation and final report.

The development swap agreement signed by the two countries in November 2006 came into effect in 2009, wherein $100 million ($26.52m) equivalent to Rs8.276 billion of Pakistani debt owed to Italy will be exchanged for development projects in health, education, agriculture, environment, microcredit schemes, poverty alleviation, rural development, and infrastructure across the country.

There have been 48 projects approved and funded by PIDSA, of which 45 have been completed and three are in progress.