Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for returning to the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for overseas aid, as set out by the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, following their decision to cut overseas aid to 0.3 per cent of gross national income.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to returning to spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA) when fiscal circumstances allow, in line with the International Development Act 2015.
We will return to 0.7 per cent when, on a sustainable basis, the government is not borrowing money for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling. The Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast shows that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within the Parliament.
The Government will continue to monitor future forecasts closely, and each year will review and confirm, in accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending 0.7 per cent GNI on ODA is possible against the latest fiscal forecast.