AusAID’s budget for technical assistance will go down to about 38 percent in 2010, the lowest level for such spending since 2000, according to the agency’s chief.
Before a parliamentary committee hearing in Canberra, Peter Baxter said technical assistance, which requires consulting services, has gone down from a record of more than 47 percent of the Australian aid budget in 2004.
“So there has been a significant reduction in the use of technical assistance in the program,” Baxter said, as quoted by Radio News Australia.
He said AusAID welcomes the planned review of the agency’s use of technical assistance, which has drawn criticism from the local political, nonprofit and media circles.
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