The United States is providing hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to countries that it borrows billions from, according to a report by Congress’s research arm.
The Congressional Research Service released a report last month, a copy of which Fox News exclusively obtained, showing that in fiscal year 2010, the latest year that data was available, the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4 billion to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10 billion in Treasury securities, including China ($27.2 million), Brazil ($25 million), Russia ($71.5 million), India ($126.6 million), Mexico ($316.7 million) and Egypt ($255.7 million).
China is the largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds with $1.1 trillion as of March, according to the Treasury Department. Brazil held $193.5 billion, Russia had $127.8 billion, India owned $39.8 billion, Mexico held $28.1 billion and Egypt had $15.3 billion.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who requested the report, sounded the alarm.
“Borrowing money from countries who receive our aid is dangerous for both the donor and recipient,” Coburn said in a written statement. “If countries can afford to buy our debt, perhaps they can afford to fund assistance programs on their own.
“At the same time, when we borrow from countries we are supposedly helping to develop, we put off hard budget choices here at home,” he added. “The status quo creates co-dependency and financial risk at home and abroad.”
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2 Responses
Can I have some money?
O you don’t have any? I’ll lend you some at interest then you can give me some and eventually you can pay me back the loan.
brilliant plan
One should remember that a large portion, and probably most, of the foreign aid is in the form of “credits” which they have use to purchase goods and services from the United States. In effect they are export subsidies, that usually benefit the US more than the recipient. Indeed they often hurt the recipient. As an example, consider the “aid” that is used to enable Israel to buy overwise overpriced American airplanes, so that Israel won’t invest in developing its own superior and cheaper (if subsidies weren’t involved) aircraft. Unless disguised as “foreign aid” they would be “export subsidies” which are illegal under international trade law, and in many case, would be considered “dumping.”