Thursday, March 29, 2007

G8 calls for increased scrutiny of aid


The increasing volumes of development aid coming from powerful emerging economies such as China and India should meet higher governance and transparency standards, the Group of Eight leading industrial states said in -Berlin yesterday.

China already provides aid amounting to $2bn (€1.5bn, £1bn) a year, a higher figure than Belgium, Switzerland or Australia. India's estimated total of up to $1bn a year already exceeds that of Finland and Ireland, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development club of industrial states.

James Kunder, acting deputy administrator of USAID, Washington's official aid agency, told the Financial Times the trend in G8 countries to link some aid to performance-based criteria - such as good governance, a strong economy and deregulation - could be undermined by emerging economies.

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