Goff: We've paid $3m

The Government has paid the $3 million it pledged to the United Nations tsunami relief fund, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said yesterday.

And he said most of the $5 million allocated to matching public donations had been paid to the 25 fund-raising groups, and $500,000 had been paid to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.

Donor nations have promised the United Nations US$3 billion, but the world body is worried that all the pledges will not turn into hard cash.

It says it desperately needs US$1 billion for immediate relief work.

"We have met our initial pledge speedily to ensure that the money was immediately available to assist with urgently-needed disaster relief work," Mr Goff said.

The Government's aid pledge so far, to the UN and other organisations and countries, is $10 million.

But a significant increase is expected to be announced on Tuesday.