The Palestinian Authority (PA), facing a stifling financial crisis, is going door-to-door in the Arab world seeking aid. Since the United States halted its support and Israel slashed tax revenues, the PA is resolutely soliciting help to compensate for its bulging budget deficit. Officials have been busy. Just this month:
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas led on March 3 a high-powered delegation to Iraq — his first visit in seven years.
- Abbas then moved on to Jordan March 5 and met with head of the Islamic Development Bank Bandar Bin Hamza Hajjar in Amman, filling him in on the tough economic situation in the Palestinian territories.
- The next day, Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara met with Jordanian Central Bank Gov. Ziad Fariz in Amman, along with governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority Azzam al-Shawa, seeking to raise the loan ceiling offered by Jordanian banks operating in the West Bank.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki met with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo March 13 to discuss activating a financial "social safety net" of $100 million per month. The Arab League has approved such emergency funds for the PA in the past.
Abbas began stepping up PA visits to the Gulf countries months ago to garner financial support, visiting Qatar in August 2018, Oman and Kuwait in November 2018, and Saudi Arabia in February of this year.
A Palestinian official close to Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “We are working hard to get the Arab safety net, but it depends on our relations with Arab states. The PA would rather not take loans … for fear of accumulating foreign debts." According to data issued March 19 by the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, those debts reached almost $1.54 million at the end of 2018.
Meanwhile, the PA disbursed partial salaries March 10 to its 157,000 civil and military employees after a delay of more than a week. It paid about 50% of the salaries due, with the lowest-paid workers receiving a minimum of $550 and higher-ranking employees getting no more than $2,755. The PA also stopped appointments, promotions and raises, and reduced travel allocations for officials.
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