Global Economic Downturn

Hugh Bayley (City of York) (Lab)
6. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the effects of the global economic downturn on poor people in developing countries.

The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas)
We are reprioritising some of our aid to help mitigate the impact of the downturn on the world’s poorest. We are working with the international financial institutions, other world bodies and traditional donors, in particular in the run-up to the G20 London summit, on measures to help developing countries to maximise levels of economic growth.

Hugh Bayley
What policies to protect poor people in developing countries will the UK Government propose to other donor countries at the G20 summit and the spring meeting of the World Bank?

Mr. Thomas
We are working to ensure that the international financial institutions, in particular the World Bank, but also the regional development banks and the European Commission, continue to fund, for example, infrastructure programmes that sustain jobs, and to release more support for safety nets. We have also brought forward some additional resources to help, for example, to provide more safety nets in Ethiopia, to cover the higher costs of social protection there due to rising food prices and rising food shortages.