PA announces timetable for distributing unpaid salaries

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Finance Ministry yesterday announced the schedule for paying employees their overdue salaries, reported official news agency Wafa.

According to the report, the ministry “is going to pay its employees on Thursday the unpaid dues for the months of April, May and June in one lump sum, while the remaining unpaid dues for July, August and September will be paid along with the monthly salary for the next three months.”

As Wafa reported, the Palestinian treasury received early this month around $500 million from Israel from tax revenues which the PA had previously refused to accept.

The PA’s refusal was intended to protest a February decision by the Israeli government to withhold funds equivalent to the amount paid by the PA to the families of prisoners in Israeli jails and those killed by Israeli forces.

Gaza: PA cuts salaries of hundreds of doctors, teachers

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that despite a compromise being reached with Israeli authorities, the financial crisis – and dispute – is not over yet.

“Israel’s withholding of the Palestinian clearance tax revenues is not over yet and we insist on getting all our money back from Israel,” he said.

As reported by Wafa, “the Finance Ministry said it will resume paying full salary to its employees starting this month after paying only half salary for the past eight months following a partial relief in the liquidity crisis with the transfer of the $200 million a month clearance revenues.”