SADLY, THE UR IS NO TRUMAN:

Bid for State of Palestine Gets Support From I.M.F. (ETHAN BRONNER, 4/07/11, NY Times)

The Palestinian Authority, which is working toward global recognition of its statehood in September, got an endorsement on Wednesday from the International Monetary Fund, which said that the authority was fully capable of running the economy of an independent state.

The fund issued its latest report on the economies of the West Bank and Gaza, to be presented next week to a donors’ conference in Brussels. It said for the first time that it viewed the authority as “now able to conduct the sound economic policies expected of a future well-functioning Palestinian state, given its solid track record in reforms and institution-building in the public finance and financial areas.”

The World Bank, which will be reporting at the same conference, will make a similar point, one that it made last fall.

“If the Palestinian Authority maintains its performance in institution-building and delivery of public services, it is well positioned for the establishment of a state at any point in the near future,” the World Bank says in its report, to be released Thursday.

Follow @brothersjudd