Official data showed that the outstanding public debt of the Palestinian government at the end of November amounted to $2.43 billion; a little more than half of it was local debt.
According the data issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, total public debt at the end of last month reached 8.748 billion shekels ($2.430 billion), compared to 8.76 billion shekels ($2.4 billion) at the end of last year.
The total domestic public debt at the end of November reached approximately $1.243 billion, as the government owes banks operating in Palestine and a number of the Palestinian private sector institutions money. The total external public debt for the Palestinian government reached approximately $1.187 billion. The Palestinian Authority also owes the World Bank, OPEC, the European Investment Bank, and a number of countries including Spain, China, and Italy money.
The total interest paid by the Palestinian government during the past 11 months reached 196.8 million shekels ($54.6 million).
The arrears owed by the Palestinian government to the Palestinian private sector and some foreign institutions, some of which matured five years ago, are non-interest bearing debts. Their approximate value is $2 billion, according to a source in the Ministry of Finance.
The source told to an Anadolu Agency reporter that the Ministry of Finance does not include the arrears in its monthly budget or in the public debt report because those arrears do not bear any additional financial commitments such as interest.
The average shekel to US dollar exchange rate over the past 11 months was 3.6 shekels to a dollar, while it was 3.65 last year.
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