RAMALLAH, West Bank - The European Union gave a financial boost on Wednesday to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to help Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pay public sector salaries. The 40 million euro ($59 million) injection of funds comes on top of the 440 million euros ($648 million) that the EU pledged for the Palestinians in 2008.Fayyad has struggled in recent months to pay government workers because many Arab donors have not met their financial commitments. "The situation is very, very tight, for sure," a top official from Fayyad's office said this week.
A Palestinian official said the EU money would help Fayyad meet the next government payroll, due in the first week of September. Fayyad has been waiting for months to receive $80 million pledged by Kuwait but it is unclear when the funds will arrive in the Palestinian Authority's coffers, officials say.
The EU money will also be used to pay