New Zealand's Council for International Development says it is pleased to see more money for foreign aid but says this country is lagging behind most of its peers.
The New Zealand Government announced a year ago aid would increase from this year, by $US161 million dollars spread over the next 3 years, and this was confirmed in yesterday's Budget announcement.
CID is the umbrella for non government organisations working in the aid sector, and its director, Wren Green says New Zealand is still languishing well down the OECD league table, contributing less than point-three-of-one-percent of Gross National Income to aid.
"I think it is worth looking at it in the context of what this means per person. And the aid that we currently spend works out at a bit over one take-away coffee per Kiwi per fortnight. And I think we can really do better than that."
