Overseas Aid

(asked on 13th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the (a) decline in GDP and (b) reduction of the aid target to 0.5 per cent of GDP on the total amount of Official Development Assistance.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 21st July 2021

In the context of unprecedented economic and fiscal circumstances, the Government decided at the 2020 Spending Review to temporarily reduce the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget to spend the equivalent of 0.5 per cent of gross national income (GNI) on overseas aid in 2021.

As usual, the FCDO National Statistics publication, 'Statistics on International Development’, provides a breakdown of UK ODA expenditure for each calendar year. Final 2020 spend will be published in Statistics on International Development in the autumn this year. Final ODA spend for subsequent years will be published in a similar manner.

The Government remains committed to the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 and to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI as ODA once the fiscal situation allows. The Chancellor’s Written Ministerial Statement of 12th July 2021 sets out the responsible fiscal circumstances under which the Government will return to 0.7 per cent.

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