Saudi Arabia bails out Ramallah with $100 million grant
Money to help Palestinian Authority overcome its worst economic crisis since its founding in 1994
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Saudi Arabia for transferring $100 million to the Palestinian Authority in budget support, according to a report by Palestinian news agency Wafa on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy Ibrahim Assaf told Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a phone call earlier Sunday that Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz ordered the money transfer to help solve the PA’s acute financial crisis.
Abbas met with the King in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, Friday, where he asked the leader for urgent financial assistance.
PA Labor Minister Ahmad Majdalani had called the PA’s financial situation its worst economic crisis since its founding in 1994. The economic troubles have prevented the PA from fully paying June salaries to government employees.