EU approves first slice of 2010 crisis aid to developing states

Sep 2, 2010, 11:59 GMT

Brussels - The European Union's executive on Thursday approved the first slice of a 264-million-euro (337-million-dollar) aid package designed to help poor African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states weather the economic crisis this year.

The European Commission launched its so-called V-FLEX aid programme in 2009. With a budget of 500 million euros over two years, the programme is meant to protect ACP states from financial collapse by pre-empting their financing needs rather than waiting for trouble.

'Developing countries continue to face important difficulties, including funding gaps in their governments' budgets, as a direct consequence of the global financial crisis,' EU Development Commisioner Andris Piebalgs said in a statement.

On Thursday, the commission approved aid payments to Burkina Faso (14 million euros) and Grenada (3.5 million euros) as the first payments from the 264-million-euro budget for this year.

Another 17 states are to receive funding this year: Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu and Zimbabwe.

Payments to those countries are set to be approved later this year, the statement said.

Last year, payments totalling 236 million euros were made to 15 ACP states: Benin, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Malawi, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, and Zambia.

The commission set up V-FLEX to help ACP countries withstand the shock of the world economic downturn. It is open to countries which request aid and are judged to have 'the right policies in place to fight the crisis, and sufficient absorptive capacity.'