The Hamas government’s budget for 2014 of nearly $900 million, ratified by the Legislative Council on Dec. 31, will struggle to meet its targets. While preparing and ratifying the budget is one matter, implementing it and reaching the set revenues is another task altogether.

Meeting the budget is nearly an impossible mission in light of the circumstances that can easily be described as harsh, most notably because of the significant decline in tax revenues from incoming goods from Egypt because of the closure of the tunnels and the severe recession experienced by Gaza’s economy. This is in addition to the tightening of the Israeli siege after Israel uncovered the Ein Hashlosha tunnel on its border last October, and the worsening UNRWA financial crisis. The Hamas government, the Hamas movement and the Gaza Strip are experiencing difficult circumstances. How will Hamas be able to confront these conditions, given that they are the worst in decades?

Legal and political background

Article 1 of Law No. 7 (1998) defines the budget as a detailed program for the spending and revenues of the Palestinian National Authority for a given fiscal year. It includes revenues, grants, loans and other receipts, in exchange for expenses and various payments.