New British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is considering freezing the country’s foreign aid budget for an additional two years, sources have revealed.

Britain’s spending on foreign aid is set at 0.5 per cent of national income.

The government had cut its foreign aid spending two years ago as the country faced a huge hit to public finances due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

“All spending decisions will be considered in the round by the Prime Minister and Chancellor at the Autumn Statement,” a UK Treasury spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

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Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, had said last year that foreign spending should return to 0.7% of economic output by 2024-2025.

However, officials are said to be considering extending the foreign aid spending cut by another two years to 2026-2027.

It was learnt that there was scope for deeper cuts along with an option to peg the aid spending to inflation for three years in the future.

This comes as the government draws up spending cuts and cancels tax cuts as the rising cost of mortgages, food, fuel, and heating squeezes many household budgets.

The Star