Mr Grimsdale
05-27-2005, 03:44 AM
UK 'inflates aid figures' (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1409971.html?menu=)
The UK exaggerates the amount of "real" aid it gives to developing countries by more than a quarter, according to a new report.
Britain and the other G7 leading industrialised nations increase the value of their help by including spending on items like technical assistance and administration and by double-counting debt relief, claims the development agency ActionAid.
The organisation's report said only 10 cents of every dollar of US aid was "real" aid. The UK, with 71% "real" aid, was the G7's best performer.
But Luxembourg, Norway and Denmark, none of them G7 members, give far more aid relative to their wealth, and a high proportion of it - 81% in Luxembourg's case - was "real".
International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said ActionAid's figures "just don't stack up".
He added: "It's absurd to argue that debt relief, or practical advice from technical experts, isn't real aid."
The study claims only a third of G7 official aid in 2003 was "real", the rest was "phantom" aid which may have achieved other goals, but did not help to fight poverty.
Next month, a meeting of the G8 finance ministers, which includes representatives from Russia plus the original G7 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US - will be held to discuss cancelling the debt repayments of the world's poorest countries.
Patrick Watt, senior policy officer at ActionAid, said: "Among G7 countries the UK is the best when it comes to the proportion of its aid that really helps poor people.
"But the UK still spends too much on expensive consultants and administration, and it inflates its aid figures by including debt relief."
The UK exaggerates the amount of "real" aid it gives to developing countries by more than a quarter, according to a new report.
Britain and the other G7 leading industrialised nations increase the value of their help by including spending on items like technical assistance and administration and by double-counting debt relief, claims the development agency ActionAid.
The organisation's report said only 10 cents of every dollar of US aid was "real" aid. The UK, with 71% "real" aid, was the G7's best performer.
But Luxembourg, Norway and Denmark, none of them G7 members, give far more aid relative to their wealth, and a high proportion of it - 81% in Luxembourg's case - was "real".
International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said ActionAid's figures "just don't stack up".
He added: "It's absurd to argue that debt relief, or practical advice from technical experts, isn't real aid."
The study claims only a third of G7 official aid in 2003 was "real", the rest was "phantom" aid which may have achieved other goals, but did not help to fight poverty.
Next month, a meeting of the G8 finance ministers, which includes representatives from Russia plus the original G7 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US - will be held to discuss cancelling the debt repayments of the world's poorest countries.
Patrick Watt, senior policy officer at ActionAid, said: "Among G7 countries the UK is the best when it comes to the proportion of its aid that really helps poor people.
"But the UK still spends too much on expensive consultants and administration, and it inflates its aid figures by including debt relief."