Oct 28 (Portal) – Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering freezing the country’s foreign aid budget for another two years, the Telegraph reported on Friday, citing sources.
Britain’s spending on foreign aid is set at 0.5% of national income. The government cut its foreign aid spending two years ago as the country faced a huge public finance blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
“All spending decisions will be considered at the Autumn Declaration round by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor,” a UK Treasury spokesman said in a statement.
Then-Finance Minister Sunak said last year that foreign spending should return to 0.7% of GDP by 2024-2025.
But officials are considering extending the cut in foreign aid spending by another two years, to 2026-2027, according to the Telegraph report.
The report added that there was scope for deeper cuts, along with an option to index foreign aid spending to inflation for three years in the future.
The report comes as the government hammers out spending cuts and rescinds tax cuts as rising mortgage, food, fuel and heating costs weigh on many household budgets.
Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft and Deepa Babington
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