October 16, 2005

Action Aid calls out “Phantom Aid” in 2005

Scandal of ‘phantom’ aid money | Larry Elliott, economics editor | The Guardian 2005 27 May

A 2005 Action Aid report stated that the bulk of aid money allocated was wasted, misdirected or recycled within rich countries. They estimated that 61% of aid flows were “phantom” rather than “real” – rising to almost 90% in the case of France and the United States. Most of the ‘phantom aid’ came from huge disparities in compensation for rich-country vs LMIC expert salaries. The authors, Romilly Greenhill and Patrick Watt, said their figures were not precise because of the paucity of data, but that they were over-generous to donor agencies. They also noted a lack of accountability on the part of donors for either the amount of aid they commit, or the quality of that aid.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/may/27/development.debt