New York  - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday approved a 17-per-cent rise in the international body's budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The budget was increased from 4.17 billion dollars to 4.87 billion dollars, which includes 450 million dollars for financing UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan's Darfur region for the next six months.

The assembly authorized 429 million dollars for special political missions in 27 countries, among them Iraq and Afghanistan.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the rise, saying the additional means would help cover the UN's needs. (dpa)