Media coverage
Al-Najah News Network · 2018-08-26
Palestinian economist Omar Shaban said the Palestinian Authority’s budget would not be immediately affected by the Trump administration’s decision to cut $200 million in aid, because those funds were not direct budget support. However, he said the freeze, in place since last December, had already led to layoffs, the suspension of partnerships and aid programs, and would deepen the economic crisis and unemployment, prompting his call for greater self-financing, austerity, and cooperation with friendly countries.
Palestinian economist Omar Shaban said the Palestinian Authority’s budget would not be immediately affected by the Trump administration’s decision to cut $200 million in aid, because those funds were not direct budget support. However, he said the freeze, in place since last December, had already l…
An-Najah News - The Palestinian economic expert, Omar Shaban, clarified today, Saturday, that the Palestinian Authority’s budget will not be immediately affected by the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to cut $200 million in aid, because it was not among the direct beneficiaries of it.
Shaban indicated in a post on his personal Facebook social media account that the U.S. administration does not contribute directly to supporting the Palestinian Authority’s budget, but he explained that the European Union and other donor parties contribute annually and regularly to the Authority’s budget, in addition to their contributions to supporting civil society, the private sector, and international organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, such as UNRWA, the World Bank, and UNDP.
He pointed out that the U.S. administration took the decision to freeze the aid last December along with the decision to reduce its support for UNRWA’s budget, noting that this U.S. aid is disbursed through American institutions and companies operating in the Palestinian territories, such as USAID and others.
Shaban said, “The impact of the American decision to freeze became apparent several months ago when the freeze decision was issued, as many American institutions terminated the employment contracts of most of their local staff and halted many partnerships with NGOs, as well as some humanitarian aid programs, parcel distribution, and employment programs.” He added, “There is no doubt that the American decision to withdraw these amounts that have been frozen for a year will deepen the economic crisis in the Palestinian territories and will raise the level of unemployment, especially among youth and women.”
He called for strengthening self-financing and adopting a serious austerity policy that includes many unnecessary spending items, strengthening the contributions of the Palestinian diaspora, and enhancing cooperation with friendly countries as some of the many measures that must be followed to avoid such shocks and political pressure exercised through money.
Text © Al-Najah News Network — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source