Agreements were signed on Tuesday by the Islamic Development Bank to provide the Palestinian National Authority with $24 million in grants and in loans, to be used for essential services. The Palestinian News Agency reported that $10 million were provided as grants, of these $8 million were from the Jerusalem Intifada Fund, set-up by Arab states in the year 2000 to support the Palestinian uprising.
The Islamic Development Bank added that the remaining 14 million Dollars US are soft loans for 25 years, with 5 year grace-periods. The economic aid was for development projects, the Health Ministry, water and electricity projects and other industries and exports.
According to the Islamic Developments Bank’s statement, so far approximately $444 million have been paid to the Palestinian Authority by the two funds. (www.albawaba.com)
