World Bank transfers $25 million to Palestinian Authority

The World Bank announced yesterday that it has transferred $25 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) from the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund (PRDP-MDTF), a multi-donor budget support mechanism. The Bank manages the fund to support the Palestinian budget.

In a statement issued by the World Bank office in Jerusalem, a copy of which was obtained by Anadolu news agency, the Bank said: “The funds contributed by the governments of Norway and the United Kingdom will help support the urgent budget needs of the Palestinian Authority (PA), providing inter alia support for ongoing macroeconomic and public financial management reforms.”

The PRDP-MDTF was established in 2008 in accordance with an agreement signed by the World Bank and PA. Since then, the World Bank has distributed $1.38 billion via the PRDP-MDTF, according to the statement.

In addition to this, a statement issued by the IMF yesterday revealed that the Palestinian economy will suffer great losses if the flow of foreign funds, in the form of aid to the Palestinian Treasury, continues to decline.

As of July, the Palestinian Budget Report revealed that the Palestinian government only received 26 per cent of the total amount of grants expected for this year’s budget, which ends on 31 December. This amounts to $531 million, while it requires over $1.85 for this year.

The PRDP-MDTF is a central component of a World Bank’s effort to support the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan. Currently, the fund donors include the governments of Australia, France, Kuwait, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will be travelling to New York, accompanied by a delegation, at the end of the month to attend the annual donor’s meeting in order to obtain the funds required to cover the Palestinian deficit, estimated at about $900 million according to Palestinian figures.