DAC member countries finance development co-operation programmes in several ways, through budget appropriations, funds provided through sub-national authorities, civil society organisations and debt relief grants. This means that it is important for those responsible for the different kinds of bilateral aid to work closely with those who report development-related expenditures so that all bilateral ODA is included. Another concern with bilateral aid is that much of it is allocated annually, which is hard to reconcile with the long-term nature of development co-operation. DAC member countries need to consolidate aid budgets and plan development aid over the medium term. If aid flows to partner countries are predictable they can plan to make the investments required to achieve the MDGs.