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The United States' promised billion-dollar debt write-off for Pakistan, pledged in response to President Pervez Musharraf's support for its war against terrorism, was "on track," a US official said here Wednesday.

"The debt write-off of a billion dollars for Pakistan is on track. The state of play about it is that we need legislation to pass the Congress. That legislation is related to the budget," US undersecretary of economic, business and agricultural affairs Alan Larson told reporters.

President George W. Bush promised to work with Congress on debt relief to Pakistan during a February visit to Washington by Musharraf, the army chief who seized power in a 1999 military coup.

"Congress has to come back after the (current US mid-term) election to resume work on the budget, and part of that is to implement laws to move ahead with the debt cancellation," Larson said after talks with Musharraf.

"I have assured the government that this is on track," he said.

The promised debt write-off is part of a package of aid measures widely seen as a reward for Pakistan playing the role of key ally in Washington's war on terrorism.

The country abandoned its support of the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan after last year's September 11 terror attacks, and provided key logistical support for US operations there to crush the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It opened up air corridors, provided airbases and shared intelligence with the US-led coalition.

In August the US and Pakistan inked an agreement under which three billion dollars of Pakistani debt to the US was rescheduled.

Other sweeteners included 100 million dollars in education aid by the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, which is to be disbursed over the next five years.

It was the first official donation of US humanitarian aid to Pakistan since sanctions imposed in 1995 in protest against Islamabad's nuclear weapons program.

Washington has also given Islamabad unprogrammed aid totalling about one billion dollars since Bush lifted the sanctions late last year.

Larson is on a lightning visit to South Asia aimed at boosting trade and investment relations. He visited Afghanistan over the weekend, arrived in Pakistan Tuesday and is heading to India on his next stop. 

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