Aid budget hit by sterling slump

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The loss is more than Britain gives to South America, the Caribbean, central Asia and the Middle East combined, said shadow international development secretary Andrew Mitchell.

Recent weeks have seen sharp declines in the value of the pound against major currencies like the US dollar and the euro.

But less noticed have been falls against currencies like the Bangladeshi taka (down 22% since June 2007), Tanzanian shilling (down 19%) and the Nigerian naira (down 17%).

The pound has fallen even further against the Moldovan leu (down 34%), Bolivian boliviano (down 31%) and Chinese yuan (down 25%) and has even depreciated against the currencies of unstable countries like Somalia (down 19%), Burma (down 22%) and Sudan (down 15%), said Mr Mitchell.

If British aid were all converted into local currencies in order to buy supplies and services, its total value would be up to £334 million lower as a result of the fall in sterling, he said.

This is enough to buy 66 million life-saving anti-malaria bednets at £5 each and more than total British aid to Sierra Leone over the past five years.

Mr Mitchell said: "Not only have Gordon Brown's economic policies been a disaster for people in Britain, but the slump in our currency is also directly affecting the value of our support to poor people around the world. Poor families are paying the price for Gordon Brown's economic mismanagement."