EU to provide $136m in emergency funding to PA

The European Union’s office in Palestine announced yesterday that it is proceeding with the disbursement of €122.5 million ($136.2 million) in short-term emergency financial support to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

In a statement, the office said that the aid package includes €38.5 million ($42.8 million) in grants to pay the salaries of civil servants in the occupied West Bank and €84 million ($93.4 million) in credit facilities for the Palestinian Monetary Authority provided by the European Investment Bank.

This payment marks the second instalment of the EU’s €400 million ($444.6 million) emergency financial support package for Palestine, which was announced in July 2024.

The Palestinian Authority has been grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis, which since November 2021 has forced it to pay reduced wages to its public sector employees. The crisis worsened further following the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and the withholding of tax revenues by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The EU office stated this package is part of a strategy agreed upon between the European Union and the PA “for addressing the critical budgetary and fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority.”

It was explained that the package consists of a combination of grants and loans, to be disbursed in three instalments, with the first €150 million ($166.7 million) already transferred in July.

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