World Bank: Israel, Egypt causes ‘dangerous fiscal crisis’ in Gaza

A report prepared by the World Bank said that unemployment rate in Gaza has reached a record as it is the highest across the world, Quds Press reported on Sunday.

About unemployment rates, the report said it increased in 2014 “to reach 44 per cent — probably the highest in the world,” with the poverty rate in the occupied Palestinian territory reaching 39 per cent, despite the fact that nearly four of every five Gazans receive “some aid.”

“Gaza’s unemployment and poverty figures are very troubling and the economic outlook is worrying,” the World Bank quoted Palestinian territories director Steen Lau Jorgensen as saying in a statement.

The report said that most of the unemployed are youth and university graduates.

According to the report, the Israeli occupation state and Egypt are responsible for this deteriorated situation because of imposing a strict siege on the coastal enclave.

According to the World Bank, the virtual disappearance of Gaza’s exports can be explained by no other variable than “war and the blockade.”

“The impact of the blockade imposed in 2007 was particularly devastating, with GDP losses caused by the blockade estimated at above 50 per cent and large welfare losses,” the report said.

The World Bank urged the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Israeli occupation and the donor community to take action through reformation in order “to reverse the recent and worrisome slowdown in economic growth” and “avoid a dangerous fiscal crisis.”