Must Listen

Must Read

What Art Thinks

Pre-Millennialism

Today's Headlines

  • Sorry... Not Available
Man blowing a shofar

Administrative Area





Locally Contributed...

Audio

Video

Special Interest

Daily News
7138
“US transfers $200 m. in aid to PA gov't”
by Jpost   
July 25th, 2009

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced that the United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian Authority in order to help ease a growing budget deficit.

The transfer of aid directly to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad's budget was an expression of confidence in his fiscal reforms, Clinton said.

"The ability of the United States to provide support directly to the Palestinian Authority is an indication of the bipartisan support for the effort to secure the peace in the Middle East, as well as for the fundamental reforms that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken," she said.

"Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle worked closely with us to make this assistance possible."

Earlier this year, the Obama administration pledged $900 million in aid to the Palestinians, and the $200 million in budget support announced Friday are part of that sum.

Clinton was vague about prospects for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying only that she believes the Obama administration is making progress in creating the "right environment" for such negotiations in the near future.

With Friday's aid transfer, donor countries have given the Palestinian Authority government $606 million in budget support this year, covering only about one-third of the estimated deficit of $1.45 billion for 2009, Fayyad said.

The PA has been struggling in recent months to keep his government afloat, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from commercial banks just to cover the public payroll.

The reasons for the shortfall include Israel's restrictions on the Palestinian economy, the border blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the failure of some donor countries to make good on their aid pledges, the PA prime minister said on Friday, in a video conference with Clinton.

"We have received aid, but not enough to deal with our needs, and we faced sharp economic difficulties throughout the last months," Fayyad told reporters.

go back button