British Prime Minister may freeze foreign aid for another two years

The Telegraph newspaper, quoting sources, said that the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is considering freezing the country's foreign aid budget for an additional two years.

Britain's spending on foreign aid was set at 0.5 percent of national income.

The government cut its foreign aid spending two years ago as public finances faced a major blow due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, said last year that foreign spending should return to 0.7 percent of economic output by 2024-2025.

But the Telegraph report said officials are considering extending spending cuts on foreign aid for another two years, to 2026-2027.

"The Secretary of the Treasury will consider all spending decisions in full in the fall statement," a Treasury spokesman said in a statement.

The report added that there is scope for deeper cuts along with linking spending on foreign aid to inflation for three years into the future.

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