CAIRO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Arab finance ministers stressed their commitment on Sunday to activating a monthly Arab financial safety network to boost the budget of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in line with the Arab League (AL) resolutions.

The allocation is meant to help the PA cope with the ongoing financial crises, according to a statement following an emergency meeting of the Arab finance ministers in Cairo.

The ministers reiterated full support for political, economic and financial rights of the PA, condemning what they called "Israeli piracy" of Palestinian funds.

The ministers also stressed the need for governmental and non-governmental financial institutions in the Arab countries to coordinate action with their counterparts in the Palestinian territories.

Addressing the meeting earlier in the day, AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said the deficit in the PA's budget has amounted to 700 million U.S. dollars due to the financial practices exercised by Israel.

Aboul-Gheit said activating a monthly 100-million-dollar Arab financial safety network to boost the PA's budget has now become a necessity.

The PA has been facing a severe financial crisis since Israel's decision to deduct funds from Palestinian tax revenues, on the pretext that the PA pays financial dues to the families of killed Palestinians and prisoners in Israeli jails.

Originally, Israel deducted three percent of the total tax worth over one billion dollars a year. In February, Israel began to deduct about 10 million dollars in tax revenues collected for the PA.

The PA has refused to receive any amount of tax revenues from Israel, and has so far maintained its position that the funds must be transferred in full amount.

The Palestinian government was forced to borrow from local banks to continue paying 50 percent of the public servants' salaries, while the total salary bill was more than 200 million dollars per month. Enditem

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