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Ramallah- Yesterday, Monday, the Palestinian government announced that the Department of Public Affairs is “in a state of emergency,” thus managing the available financial resources and preparing the budget and activities during 2024 in accordance with that state.
“As funds are available,” the government said that it is committed to fulfilling its obligations towards employees in West Bank AndGaza strip AndJerusalem “And also for the prisoners and the families of the martyrs.”
In its statement, the government did not declare a “state of emergency” as is customary, but rather a state touching the emergency and just below it, which allows it to manage the available money, according to what specialists reported to Al Jazeera Net.
In his speech at the beginning of the government session, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that last December, Israel deducted 517 million shekels (about 140 million dollars) from the clearance funds, which amounted to 750 million shekels (about 200 million dollars), “and sent the rest to us, but we refused.” “Receive it.”
Press coverage | The Palestinian government: “We decided to manage public affairs as if they were in a state of emergency, and to prepare budgets and government activities for the year 2024 that are consistent with these circumstances, and to ensure the continued provision of government services to citizens.” pic.twitter.com/LwYUiuRQcX
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) January 8, 2024
Prisoners and martyrs are a red line
And she refuses Palestinian Authority Receiving the clearing for the second time, since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7 last year. This relates to tax revenues that Israel collects on goods imported into the Authority’s territories, and is supposed to transfer them monthly.
The Minister of Communications in the Palestinian government, Dr. Ishaq Sidr, told Al Jazeera Net that the occupied territories are going through difficult circumstances, and that is why the government’s decision came.
The government official added, “The country is going through emergency conditions as a result of an abnormal financial blockade on the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people, with the aim of bringing the people and the leadership to their knees, and creating an atmosphere that weakens the Palestinian Authority in a way that prevents it from carrying out its duty towards our people.”
The same spokesman pointed out that the Palestinian Authority’s resources have declined to about 20% since the start of the aggression on Gaza, stressing that “the benefits of the families of martyrs and prisoners are a red line, and the second red line is Gaza and its salaries, and there is no discussion about them.”
In explaining the meaning of the government announcement, the economic expert and lecturer at the Arab American University, Dr. Nasr Abdel Karim, says that it is “less than declaring a state of emergency because the president is authorized to declare it on the one hand, and on the other hand, the same work rules that govern the organization or approval of the general budget are not adhered to.” “.
He added that the announcement of the situation comes due to the difficulty of having logical, certain, or semi-reasonable estimates of the authority’s revenues and expenditures, especially revenues, at a time when the clearing crisis is at a standstill, no aid is coming with certainty, and collection is not guaranteed.
message
In the opinion of the Palestinian expert himself, the government should have added to its announcement setting its spending priorities – as it was in previous cases – such as employee salaries and relief for Gaza and the poor sector, and to develop plans to rationalize expenditures and austerity and show people the aspects of saving, spending and expenses.
Abdul Karim adds that the Palestinian government wanted to send a message that it is experiencing a crisis with no horizon for its solution, and therefore it will try to work according to the available money.
In numbers, the economist says that the resources available today are only local collections based on customs and value-added tax, and these have declined due to a decline in consumption by about 40%, according to the latest estimates.
He continues, in the same context, “About 250 million shekels (about 67 million dollars) are collected monthly instead of about 450 to 500 million shekels (120-135 million dollars) before the war, and therefore this is what is available.”
As for the clearing, Abdel Karim said that it was estimated at about 750 million shekels before the aggression, and approximately 200 million shekels were deducted from this amount per month under various pretexts, and the incomplete amount was transferred to the Palestinian Authority.
In general, the economist estimates that local government revenues at the present time do not exceed 20% of what they were before the war, adding that “foreign aid is not guaranteed while Israel remains stubborn regarding the issue of clearing.”
The Palestinian expert believed that the Authority “bought time when it borrowed $450 million from banks to postpone the explosion of the crisis for about a month or 1.5 months, but the situation will become much more difficult if the crisis continues until the end of this month, and the government will find itself facing a very difficult predicament.”
The most affected groups
According to Dr. Tayseer Amr, former Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, the social affairs, health and education sectors will be most affected by the declared situation.
He added, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that among those affected is also the private sector, as the government will not be able to fulfill its obligations towards this sector, which is suffering as a result of large debts accumulated by the government, “and therefore the government will stop paying its debts, which were originally paid in small percentages.”
The same spokesman explained that the impact would affect the rest of the economic activities, including companies that supply the government’s needs, including pharmaceutical companies, contracting companies, and others.
Regarding the extent to which the Palestinian Authority can bear in light of this situation, Amr said, “The Authority will remain in existence because there is an interest for everyone in its survival, and the Americans are also concerned for Israel to release the clearance funds.”
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy concluded by asking, “How can the parties that talk about strengthening the authority as the best option for participating in the management of Gaza accept putting it into a financial crisis?!”
