Foreign aid is dubiously spent on exorbitant international consultants? fees and donor countries? own firms at the expense of recipient countries, according to the charity ActionAid. The UK-based non-profit organization further claimed that foreign assistance was "phantom," losing their way into poor project planning and implementation, excessive administrative expenses, and double counting of debt relief. Donor countries such as the United States and France deflate the value of aid anywhere from 61 percent to as much as 90 percent, based on ActionAid?s study. UK?s secretary for the Department of International Development, Hilary Benn, rebuffed the accusations, saying "It's absurd to argue that debt relief, or practical advice from technical experts, isn't real aid." ActionAid proposed an international aid agreement that would highlight greater accountability among donors and unequivocal commitments between donors and recipients.
Source: Scandal of "phantom" aid money (The Guardian)
