Saudi Arabia transfers $31m for PA budget

Saudi Arabia has transferred a total of $31 million to the Palestinian Authority, Riyadh’s ambassador to Egypt announced yesterday. Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Kattan added that the money was paid by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to the PA finance ministry account.

The Kingdom’s permanent representative to the Arab League pointed out that the amount is part of the Saudi government’s monthly contributions to support the Palestinian budget for the period April to July this year. The government in Riyadh was committed to supporting the PA with $20 million every month, before it had to reduce the figure to $7.7 million last year following the oil crisis.

The Saudis’ financial support comes as part of the Arab Financial Safety Network (AFSN), which was concluded with the PA during the 2012 Baghdad Summit. According to the agreement, the Kingdom is actually committed to give $100 million per month to the PA. Over the current year, though, Saudi Arabia has aided the PA with a total of $55 million, excluding the latest payment, according to official Palestinian data.

Read more: Arab countries half their aid to the PA