U.S. defends aid, rejects theory of 'magic numbers'

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NEW YORK -- USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios yesterday vigorously defended U.S. development assistance to poor countries, telling an international forum that Washington is already the most generous of nations.

Mr. Natsios also said the United States has no intention of meeting global standards for official development assistance (ODA), currently 0.7 percent of gross domestic product and one measure by which Washington falls far short of other major donors.

"We do not believe that there are any magic numbers for achieving our mutual goals," he told government ministers and diplomats at a two-day U.N. conference on financing for development.

"There is ample evidence that ODA is not generally the limiting factor on nations' development," Mr. Natsios added. "Development progress is first and foremost a function of country commitment and political will to rule justly, promote economic freedom and invest in people."

Earlier in the day, Mr. Natsios told reporters that "no matter what we do, we will never reach 0.7 percent," a figure that could exceed $90 billion annually.

"We couldn't spend $91 billion if we wanted to," he said, adding that the U.S. government had never agreed to the 0.7 percent target, and wasn't bound by it.

Washington has nearly doubled its ODA in the last five years, the chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development said, spending $19.5 billion in 2004, up from $10 billion in 2000.

However, U.S. aid totals just 0.16 percent of GDP -- a far smaller share, proportionally, than most Western European governments spend.

Just last month, European Union members committed to reaching the 0.7 percent figure by 2015, and half that by 2010.

The disparity has generated a steady stream of criticism from European nations and development officials, who say the United States should both give more freely and commit to sustained assistance levels.