According to sources cited by the Telegraph on Friday, the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering keeping the nation’s foreign aid budget frozen for a further two years.
British foreign aid spending is limited to 0.5% of GDP. Since the country’s public finances had taken a significant hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic two years prior, the government has reduced its spending on international aid.
A UK Treasury official said in a statement that ‘all spending choices will be examined in the round by the Prime Minister and Chancellor at the Autumn Statement.’
By 2024–2025, according to Sunak, who was the finance minister at the time, foreign spending should revert to its previous level of 0.7% of GDP.
The Telegraph reported that officials are considering extending the cut in foreign aid funding by a further two years, until 2026–2027.
The report also noted that there was room for even larger cuts and the possibility of indexing future foreign aid spending for three years to inflation.
The research is released at a time when the government is planning expenditure reductions and eliminating tax breaks due to the increasing cost of housing, food, fuel, and heating.
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