RAMALLAH, September 14, 2011 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Wednesday said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has succeeded in reducing dependency on foreign aid.

Speaking at his weekly radio talk, Fayyad said that efforts are exerted to overcome the financial deficit by 2012. He said this process will not affect the essential services and the need of those most in need.

The efforts will include a number of measures the government is currently preparing and is expected to approve within the next few weeks, he said.

He said that he is on his way to New York in order to participate in the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee meeting held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, stressing that the World Bank report which will be presented at the meeting will prove PA’s readiness for statehood.

“The Palestinian public institutions outperform the performance of similar institutions in the Middle East, North Africa and also outside the region,” said Fayyad.

He added that the meeting will focus on the Palestinian bid to the UN and on trying to get the assistance the PA needs to overcome these financial crises hopefully by the end of 2011.

He mentioned that reducing dependency on foreign aid was the aim of the two-year project where the need for aid to support the PA’s treasury had declined from $1.8 billion in 2008 to less than a billion dollars in 2011.

T.R. /M.S.