ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the dimensions of OPEC aid and its motivations. It reviews the balance between OPEC aid and the Third World countries' extra expenditure on imports caused by higher oil prices. The dimensions of foreign aid from OPEC, mainly the Arab member countries, only became large after the 1973 oil price increases and the resulting vast increases in their foreign exchange earnings. The oil exporting countries share with the rest of the Third World a heritage of colonial relationships. The heavy geographic concentration of OPEC aid is clearly illustrated when it is analysed on a country basis. Of the twenty largest recipients of OPEC bilateral aid in the 1973-77 period, all except India and Thailand are regarded as Muslim countries. The political context of Arab OPEC aid has been put by Choucri: The predominance of petroleum in the economy of the made the disbursement of oil revenues, not trade regulations, the major issue of economic policy.
