Arab Spring Financial Aid to Rise to $38 Billion

International institutions agreed Saturday to raise their financial support to Arab nations in transition to democracy to $38 billion, France's finance minister said.

Nine international institutions agreed at a G8 meeting in Marseille to "bring the financial aid available to $38 billion in the period 2011-2013 to Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan", Francois Baroin said.

That compared to $20 billion announced in a G8 meeting in May, he told reporters.

Baroin said that the $20 billion bilateral aid to these countries announced in May would also rise in "a comparable manner".

The money is earmarked to support reform and help new governments weather short-term economic instability in the wake of popular uprisings that began in Tunisia and toppled its strongman leader before spreading to Egypt and Libya.