EU to pay PA €24.5m to cover wages

Palestinian Authority employees stage a protest after 30% is cut from their salaries, seen on April, 2017

The European Union (EU) has offered to give the Palestinian Authority (PA) €24.5 million ($27 million) to pay the August salaries and pensions of about 56,000 civil servants in the occupied West Bank, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

In a statement, acting EU Representative Thomas Nicholson said: “We are aware of the deep and complicated fiscal crisis the Palestinian Authority is facing and the potential human, social and security consequences.”

“We hope that the economic and financial deals between Israel and the PA continue to be fully active, including the obligations made by the Paris Protocol,” he added, referring to the 1994 agreement which established interim economic relations between Israel and the PA.

Nicholson continued: “The PA institutions offer healthcare, education and security for millions of Palestinians. This must be the interest of all parties.”

He reiterated that the EU would continue to offer financial support for the PA in order to guarantee its fiscal sustainability and protect its ability to build Palestinian institutions.

PA: Public wages to increase by 10%

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