DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - Kuwait's parliament approved adraft law on Tuesday allowing the government to make an advancepayment of 150 million dinars ($500 million) as part of aEurofighter jets deal agreed last year, state news agency KUNAreported.
Kuwait signed a memorandum of understanding in September tobuy 28 Eurofighter jets, the consortium that makes the aircraftsaid, in a deal worth up to 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion).
The planes are made by Italy's Finmeccanica, BAESystems and Airbus.
Finmeccanica shares fell 6 percent on Feb. 5 with tradersciting a delay in the signing of the Kuwait deal. That led acompany spokesman to reassure investors that the contract hadnot been cancelled.
KUNA said the 150 million dinars will be drawn from Kuwait'sgeneral reserve fund, a savings pot managed by the KuwaitInvestment Authority, one of the world's biggest sovereignwealth funds.
Kuwait and its fellow Gulf Arab states together make up oneof the world's largest arms markets, buying billions of dollarsof military equipment from the United States and Europe.
In January Kuwait's parliament approved allocating 3 billiondinars over the next 10 years to pay for the procurement ofweapons and military equipment. ($1 = 0.3004 Kuwaiti dinars)($1 = 0.9215 euros) (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Adrian Croft)