Whitehall sources have told Channel 4 News that a plan to send surplus PPE to India was delayed as the Treasury insisted the items would have to count towards overall aid spending – recently capped at 0.5 per cent of national income down from the 0.7, which had been the decades old standard.
A government source has confirmed that £813 million donated to provide coronavirus vaccines and other tools for the developing world also forms part of the overseas aid budget, known as Official Development Assistance (ODA).
By designating money and equipment donated to poorer countries as ODA, the UK government must squeeze other aid spending to stay within the 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income limit imposed by the chancellor last year.
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