Australia is planning to cut the country’s already diminished foreign aid budget by a further 3.7 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion), according to the government’s midyear budget report released Monday.
The move will put the overall cuts in the country’s official development assistance at over AU$11 billion — on top of the original AU$7.6 billion a little over six months ago — and marks the third time that the government has slashed the aid budget since Prime Minister Tony Abbott took office 15 months ago. The latest cuts will be spread out over the next three years until 2018.
The government justified the reductions to give way for the country’s pursuit of better and more stable economic growth, and to repair the previous Labor administration’s budget, that according to the current conservative government inflicted an “unsustainable trajectory of debt and deficits” to the country.
About the author
Lean Alfred Santos@DevexLeanAS
Lean Alfred Santos is a former Devex development reporter focusing on the development community in Asia-Pacific, including major players such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He previously covered Philippine and international business and economic news, sports and politics.
