Inflation outstrips aid

Press, 9 August 1982, Page 4

Inflation outstrips aid

New Zealand has increased the amount of aid it will give to South Pacific Island countries this financial year but the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mr Cooper) has acknowledged that the rise has not kept pace with inflation. New Zealand's total assistance to developing countries this year will be $64,837 million, according to the Estimates presented to Parliament with the Budget last week. Mr Cooper said that this included $3B million for South Pacific Island

States — ($4 million or 10.5 per cent more than the last financial year. It was the Government's long-standing policy to give priority to the South Pacific in allocating New Zealand's overseas aid, Mr Cooper said. However, the Government was simply not in a position to increase the over-all aid vote in proportion to price rises in New Zealand and abroad. Mr Cooper said that the aid to the South Pacific aimed to maintain the programme that had been built

up over the years. To do this the Government had been forced to cut assistance to other areas such as Africa and Latin America. . The politically important countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations — Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand. Singapore, and Malaysia — would not suffer, however. The Minister said that in spite of financial problems New Zealand might maintain the level of its assistance to A.S.E.A.N. countries, notably Indonesia; the Philippines, and Thailand, this year.