UK suspension of aid to Ethiopia raises accountability questions, ODIOverseas Development Institute (London) Blog, June 2005

An interesting report yesterday evening, that Hilary Benn, the UK Secretary of State for International Development, has announced suspension of planned budget support to Ethiopia worth £20m, in reaction to the way electoral unrest has been dealt with. Two points:

First, this news comes hot on the heels of last weekend’s announcement that all HIPC completion countries, of which Ethiopia is one, would receive immediate debt relief. A question I asked in my earlier contribution was whether relief would be automatic or subject to a good governance test. This decision by Hilary Benn would seem to support the case for a review before granting debt relief......................