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The UK’s foreign aid spending target could be temporarily cut to help pay for the coronavirus crisis, it has emerged.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak It is reportedly pushing for foreign aid spending to drop from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, as it prepares to deliver a review of expenses next week.
According to The Times, Sunak has seen the move as a way to save billions of pounds for public finances after the huge outlay to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UK is legally committed to spending 0.7% of gross national income on foreign aid.
The UK is legally committed to spending 0.7% of gross national income on foreign aid each year, according to legislation passed during the term of former Prime Minister David Cameron.
However, the government can cite three reasons for not meeting the annual goal, although it must say how it will meet the goal the following year.
Those reasons are any substantial change in gross national income; the impact of reaching the goal on taxes, public spending or indebtedness; and circumstances arising outside of the UK.
A Whitehall spending watchdog has already calculated the cost of the coronavirus crisis to £ 210 billion during the first six months of the pandemic.
Spending on foreign aid was pegged at £ 15.8 billion this year, but Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has already announced That figure would drop due to the contraction of the UK economy due to the coronavirus crisis.
Monday, Boris johnsonThe official spokesperson was reluctant to commit specifically to the 0.7% target, but said the prime minister was “committed to helping the world’s poorest people” and wanted “good value for money for taxpayers in the world. United Kingdom”.
However, in September, Raab highlighted how the 0.7% target was a compromise of the Conservative Party manifesto and is enshrined in law.
The Times reported that Johnson wanted any cuts in foreign aid spending to be time-limited, with a return to 0.7% total by 2022.
The prime minister has previously refused to rule out rewriting foreign aid legislation as a means of ensuring the money is “better spent”, while this year he merged the international development department, which was in charge of spending the aid. abroad, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Treasury said it did not comment on the speculation ahead of upcoming fiscal events.
