U.S. Foreign Aid News:
June 5: According to the Wall Street Journal, The House Appropriations Committee is planning to reduce Bush's Foreign aid budget by about USD 700 million. The bill would still be an increase over last year. Congressional changes that might impact Central Asia: reduction of restrictions of family planning aid; less money for Millenium Challenge grants; and less money for Pakistan's defense force. This latter may have some impact upon the conduct of war in Afghanistan and border troubles for Tajikistan. The USD 34.2 million bill passed the house this past week 223-201; it must still survive the Senate and Mr. Bush's probable veto.
According to Reuters on May 15th, the U.S. Farm Bill overhaul currently bending and porking its way through Congress will also include a new set of directives for food aid to foreign states. U.S. food aid comes to USD 2 billion annually–but–65% of its cost goes to overhead. (!). New directions may include untying food aid–which would help its efficiency markedly. The confluence of domestic interest groups and foreign policy directions in this bill will be very complicated. More on the farm bill here, and for U.S. voters, here.
IMF:
On April 30 (Okay, I’m really behind), the International Money Fund (IMF) is forecasting a USD 165 million shortfall on funds. Just as a backdrop, eh?
Development Banks
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is about to make operational a USD 10 billion for poverty alleviation. HIV and other Millenium Development Goals will be targeted. Though it looks like Africa will be the main focus of this fund, there are certainly opportunities for Central Asian members to participate. Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are each members of the IsDB.
In the meantime, on May 8 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is confronting a change in directive. Extreme poverty–populations with less than USD 1 per person per day–is becoming less frequent in the region. The ADB is planning new environmentally focussed initiatives, greater concentration on Millenium Development Goals, and infrastructure development. What if they raised the poverty level number to USD 2 per capita per day? Just curious–I think they have plenty they can do in Central Asia at the very least. And there's no doubt the ADB has great relevance in Central Asia's development today.
Further reading:
IsDB Home Page
World Bank's Private Sector Development blog
Photos: Baron Foods; Pamir.Org
