US gives $150m budget aid to Palestinians

The United States yesterday gave 150 million dollars in budget support to the Palestinian Authority, after delivering a similar sum in March.
"The US has again delivered a significant sum of money directly to the Palestinian budget, our most critical area of need," Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said at a signing ceremony in the West Bank political capital Ramallah.
"I thank President (George W.) Bush and the many members of Congress for making this assistance possible and for their ongoing efforts to build a secure, independent Palestinian state that will live in peace and security with Israel and all its neighbours," he said.
Jake Walles, the US consul in Jerusalem, said "the US government is pleased to support the prime minister and his government's efforts to ensure a future of economic and political stability for the Palestinian people."
The World Bank says the Palestinian economy, driven by investment and private sector productivity before 2000, has turned into one sustained by government spending and donor aid.
From January to August this year, the Palestinian Authority received 1.2 billion dollars in budget support, in addition to about 300 million dollars in development aid, the multilateral agency said in a September report.