Lobby group calls for more aid transparency

A UK-based lobby group is calling for more transparency in the spending of global development aid, estimated to be worth about £93 billion.



The group named Publish What You Fund said taxpayers in rich donor countries and recipients in poorer nations need more information to know if aid is being spent wisely.



It has published a transparency index ranking the openness of donor nations and organisations.



Major donors including the U.S., Japan and France score badly on the index.



The lobby group said the effectiveness of official aid, which is supposed to reduce poverty, is undermined by a lack of transparency in the way it is spent.



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