Progress is being made on easing US banking restrictions imposed on the Palestinian Authority, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said today.
Mr Fayyad also said talks with European and US officials have advanced on a plan to deliver foreign aid directly to a Palestinian account, bypassing the banking restrictions.
He added that he would use the money to cover expenditures of the Palestinian Authority, including salaries of government workers.
"We are making progress in receiving aid directly to an account that will be exempt from banking restrictions and would be able to manage our funds in a transparent way," he said.
Speaking at the end of a tour of Europe and the United States, Mr Fayyad said the banking restrictions were not being lifted yet. "But I believe the banking restrictions problem is on its way to resolution," he said.
The United States held out the possibility of easing the flow of money to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) but said it had no plans to lift sanctions against the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Mr Fayyad has proposed to the United States a mechanism that would allow the flow of Arab and foreign aid directly to a PLO fund.
The fund is directly controlled by Mr Fayyad, who has good relations with the US government and other Western powers.
The PLO, which has signed interim peace deals with Israel and is led by the moderate Mr Abbas, has not been under US restrictions since Hamas came to power in March 2006, but banks have been wary of conducting transactions, fearing legal and regulatory problems.