HC Deb 10 March 1999 vol 327 c224W
21. Rev. Martin Smyth

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she estimates that the internationally agreed target for a proportion of gross domestic product to be spent on humanitarian aid will be reached by the United Kingdom. [73851]

Clare Short

As we pledged, we have reversed the decline in development spending which continued throughout the life of the previous administration. The oda/GNP ratio for 1997 was 0.26 per cent. The Comprehensive Spending Review announced a significant increase of £1.6 billion in development spending which will increase the oda/GNP ratio to an estimated 0.30 per cent. by 2001. We have not set a target date for reaching 0.7 per cent.