Financial Bill 2009: Lower House approves ODA budget cuts

Yesterday, the Lower House of Parliament approved the financial bill for 2009 that is now to be reviewed by the upper house - Senate. During the debate, the Parliament majority rejected three amendments aiming to partially restore the ODA cut for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No amendment was proposed to restore development funding to allow the Ministry of Finance to disburse its annual instalments to development banks. For the time being the ODA forecast for 2009 ranges between 0.09-0.14% GDP.