NGOs accuse EU countries of inflating aid figures with ECA debt cancellation [PDF]

(Reuters, Brussels, 3 April 2006) European Union countries are inflating their aid figures by a third, a coalition of non-governmental organisations said on Monday, urging the 25-nation bloc to provide more cash and give genuine data. "It is largely export credit debt, which was issued primarily as a means of subsidising European companies operating in developing countries, and never had any development purpose," they wrote, calling for ECA debt cancellation to be excluded from aid figures.