Japan's official development assistance is expected to be reduced by 10 percent in fiscal 2002 as part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's program of "structural reform with no sacred cows." According to the budget outlines announced earlier this month, ODA will be cut by 100 billion yen from the current level of about 1 trillion yen.
Whether government assistance to developing countries should be slashed this much across the board is open to question. In light of the sorry state of public finances and the Koizumi administration's commitment to budget reform, however, there is no question that foreign aid should be streamlined along with other big-ticket spending items.
But cutting the ODA budget is not enough. It must also be re-examined in qualitative terms. The decision should accelerate the shift in emphasis from quantity to quality. Improving the quality of aid has always been a top policy priority. A quantitative review should be integrated with a qualitative analysis to develop a more efficient and effective ODA program.