Scandal of 'phantom' aid money

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Well-heeled consultants and companies in the west are the beneficiaries of a global aid system which results in less than 40p in every pound helping to eradicate poverty in the developing world, according to a report out today... The G7 countries - Britain, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Japan - spent only 0.07% of national income on real aid and would need a tenfold increase to hit the UN target, ActionAid said... Just 11% of French aid is genuine, says Action Aid. France spends nearly $2bn on technical assistance and $0.5bn on refugee costs in France. Debt relief, an accounting exercise, is 40%. Of US aid, 86 cents in the dollar is phantom, largely because it is tied to the purchase of American goods and services. George Bush's Aids drugs plan excludes cheaper, generic drugs, so giving lucrative contracts to US pharmaceutical companies but treating fewer patients.