25/03/2008 :: Norway provides NOK 228 million for the establishment of the World Bank administered new trust fund for budget support to the PA.
Norway signed on the 19 March 2008 an agreement with the World Bank worth NOK 228 million, approx. US $ 44 million, in support to the new trust fund called Palestinian Reform and Development Trust Fund (PRDP-TF). The grant is in line with the Norwegian budget support pledge made at the Paris Conference held in December 2007. The funds will be made available to the PA in April.
- Norway has actively supported the establishment of a World Bank administered trust fond for the coordination of donor countries’ budget support to the PA. We are particularly satisfied, says Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that the trust fund was established swiftly and that it will make its first release already prior to the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in London on the 2 May.
The trust fund will ensure control of the use of the budget support grants, whilst contributing to greater predictability in terms of aid disbursements to the PA. The grant will contribute to the payment of salaries of civil servants and the maintenance of basic services such as the running of hospitals and schools.