Cabinet agrees development aid funds
The government has approved a SFr4.5 billion ($4.5billion) credit for development aid over the next four years.
The package is SFr300 million up on the previous four-year budget, but the foreign ministry’s development agency faces calls to reduce the number of countries benefiting from Swiss aid.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said further details would be announced in the next few days.
A week ago, the cabinet agreed to allocate SFr800 million to the economics ministry to provide technical aid to seven countries, including South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Moves are underway to reform Switzerland’s aid policy as part of an overhaul of the federal administration.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.