BUDGET : Foreign Aid Outlays--a Tiny Bite : As the GOP eyes major cuts, many Americans think assistance abroad is as much as 25% of spending. It’s less than 1% of current total.

Although public opinion polls have shown that Americans think their government spends as much as 25% of its budget on foreign aid, the total is much smaller: a little less than 1% this fiscal year.

With Republicans on Capitol Hill searching for ways to cut the budget, the total is certain to be even less in the future.

Congress appropriated $13.8 billion for foreign aid in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, a tiny fraction of the $1.6-trillion federal budget. The aid total includes $10.9 billion in economic assistance and only about $3 billion in military aid.

Of the total, $5.1 billion goes to just two countries: Israel at $3 billion and Egypt at $2.1 billion. That leaves $8.7 billion for the rest of the world. The total for every African country south of the Sahara desert, the world’s most impoverished region, is just $1.2 billion, stretched over 48 countries and five regional programs. South Africa--the region’s richest nation--gets more than 10% of that aid, $135 million.

The total for this fiscal year is far below earlier years--if the figures are adjusted to account for inflation. Even without adjustment, the $13.8-billion figure is almost 25% less than the $18.1 billion spent in 1985.

The United States spends less of its gross domestic product--the statistical measure of the size of the economy--on aid than any other major industrial country, ranking just behind Ireland.

President Clinton’s budget for fiscal 1996 is virtually unchanged from current spending. But Republican lawmakers have vowed to cut it sharply.

The House International Relations Committee is considering a 35% cut in development assistance, reducing aid for the poorest countries by $2.45 billion to $4.5 billion.

Although the bill allows the Administration to decide where to make cuts, it contains a provision that protects some favored nations, shifting the burden to other--poorer--countries.

J. Brian Atwood, director of the Agency for International Development, described the legislation as “a drastic cut . . . an irresponsible cut in terms of U.S. national interest.”

“In denying poor countries resources to treat the root causes of crises, [it will] create more crises. . . . In the end, more money will be spent by the U.S. government on humanitarian response” to disasters that could have been prevented.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Top 10

Spending for the 10 countries receiving the most U.S. foreign aid, in the current fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30.

Current fiscal year appropriations, in billions

Country Economic Military Total Israel 1.200 1.800 3.000 Egypt .815 1.300 2.100 Russia .347 .0007 .348 Haiti .167 .003 .170 Ukraine .162 .0006 .163 India .139 .00025 .139 South Africa .135 .00025 .135 Ethiopia .126 .00025 .126 Poland .079 .001 .080 West Bank/Gaza .076 0 .076 TOTALS BY REGION Africa 1.200 .005 1.200 Asia and Near East 2.600 3.100 5.800 (includes Israel and Egypt) Europe .478 .007 .485 Former Soviet Union .860 .002 .862 Latin America/Caribbean .739 .020 .759

In addition to bilateral aid, budget includes $1.6 billion as U.S. contribution to the World Bank and other international development agencies; $270 million for debt restructuring and $420 million to support programs of international organizations like the United Nations.