Pump-priming is when a government, a bank, or a rich backer puts money in first, hoping a business, an industry, or a whole country will start moving on its own after that. The picture comes from an old water pump: you had to pour a little water in (prime it) before it would draw more water up. In newspapers it is almost always about money and the economy, not about real pumps. It belongs to finance, politics, and development talk, and it often carries a hopeful “this should get things going” tone. Though actually people disagree about whether it works: some say the first money starts a real engine, and some say it only buys a short splash.