After the release of a surprising new U.K. aid strategy on Monday, the aid community is coming to grips with a slew of new priorities and shifts in the government’s aid budget.
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced Wednesday the results of the government’s comprehensive spending review, and although the Department for International Development’s budget is technically sealed at 0.7 percent of gross national income, the government is delivering on its promise to use more official development assistance in other government departments.
Despite an overall $6 billion increase in the aid budget by 2020 as a result of the U.K.’s increasing gross national income, DfID will be tasked with cutting $400 million in “efficiency measures” by 2020. Cuts will focus on “streamlining administration and procurement,” a DfID source told Devex.