US to Cancel Over 90% of USAID's Foreign Aid Contracts

The US State Department said on the 26th that it would cancel over 90% of the foreign aid contracts of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to a memorandum, USAID evaluated 6,200 multi - year foreign aid contracts worth a total of $58.2 billion. After review by the Secretary of State, "as part of the America First agenda, nearly 5,800 contracts worth $54 billion have been identified for cancellation - a cut of 92%."

The memorandum also stated that the review also assessed over 9,100 foreign aid grants worth a total of $15.9 billion. Eventually, over 4,100 grants worth nearly $4.4 billion were identified for cancellation, a reduction of 28%.

USAID is a federal agency responsible for most of the country's non - military foreign aid and is a key target for reform by the new US administration. Its headquarters in Washington, D.C. has been closed.

On January 20, the US President signed an executive order to suspend all US foreign aid for 90 days to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects and their alignment with the administration's foreign policy. On January 24, the administration ordered an immediate suspension of most of the existing foreign aid projects of the State Department, including several development aid projects.