NATO defence ministers have reached a political agreement on ways to fill an almost one-billion dollar shortfall in the alliance's 2010 budget, an official said Friday, DPA reported.
A diplomat from a NATO member state said on condition of anonymity that "fresh money" had been found for the alliance's coffers, but did not specify an amount.
In the run-up to a two-day meeting in Istanbul which started on Thursday, NATO officials said that the almost-900-million-dollar budgetary shortfall was due to higher-than-expected spending on infrastructure for soldiers in Afghanistan.
Allies have also agreed to reform the budgetary system, the source said, introducing the principle that a specific price tag will have to be attached to all future NATO initiatives.
Further savings were expected to be achieved by postponing or cancelling some military programmes, but the NATO official assured that "all necessary spending" will be maintained for operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, as well as for "strategic priorities" such as missile defence.
Source: NATO allies reach agreement to solve budget crisis
