UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN General Assembly approved late on Friday a two-year budget with a 950 million U.S. dollars spending cap for 2006, a move to link UN management reforms to budget process.

    The 191-member Assembly finally adopted the 3.8 billion dollars two-year budget after weeks of arduous talks between wealthy and developing member states.

    The budget unprecedentedly capped the UN spending next year at 950 million dollars, an amount only enough to fund the UN operation for the first six months of 2006, after which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has to ask for authority from the Assembly to spend the rest of the money for the year.

    The United States has indicated it will oppose the release of additional money without UN management reforms by June, which include reviews of old UN programs and UN rules and regulations, with one goal being to give Annan greater flexibility in running the world body.

    The adopted budget resolution was based on a comprise proposed Thursday by the EU, Russia and a UN grouping known as JUSCANZ comprising Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

    "It's a new concept, it is to cap the expenditure within a year for a given amount and to then say when you've run out of that money or are about to, come ask us for some more but then people can make a judgment," said Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who played a key role in the negations on the budget.

    The powerful Group of 77, which represents 132 mainly developing countries and China, had said it would only agree to a 1.35 billion dollars cap on UN spending. Several key members including Egypt and India objected to any link between the new budget and management reforms.

    After arduous talks, both sides reached a compromise agreement on the budget Friday night. However, there are still gaps on the understanding of relationship between the budget and the reforms.

    Jamaican Ambassador Stafford Neil, the chairman of the G-77, explained to reporters that developing nations had fought against the spending cap.

    They reluctantly went along with the deal after receiving assurances that it was an exceptional measure not to be repeated and use for the future, he said.

    He stressed that there was no linkage in the deal between implementing reforms and UN funding for the second half of the year, saying the additional funding would depend on the secretary-general's recommendation.

    U.S. Ambassador John Bolton insisted the existence of the linkage, noting that if management reforms were not satisfying, the United Nations will once again face a financial crisis.

    The UN General Assembly must approve a budget plan by Dec. 31 in order to maintain the running of the organization. Enditem