Palestinian parliament approves 2004 budget

The Palestinian parliament approved with a great majority yesterday a 1.694 billion dollars budget for 2004, in the framework of the continued attempt to build confidence in the financial status of the Palestinian authority.

The budget was approved during an extraordinary session for the Palestinian legislative council. The budget estimates a deficit of 888 million. The budget of 2003 was 1. 278 billion with a deficit of 747 million. The reform minister of finance, Salam Fayyad, blamed mainly this year discrepancy on the Israeli besiege of the Palestinian territories since the eruption of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000.

Fayyad said that the main, if not the only reason in this deficit, is the deteriorated economic condition and the siege, the closure, and the Israeli practices.