How long can PA keep borrowing money from Palestinian banks?
The Palestinian government announced its decision to pay 60% of the salaries of public employees, which could be achieved under a plan to borrow money from local banks to confront the financial crisis caused by Israel's deduction from clearing funds for the PA.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — On May 2, the Palestinian government paid 60% of the basic salaries of public servants, with a minimum of 2,000 shekels ($554) and a maximum of 10,000 shekels ($2,770). In addition, it paid the fixed transportation allowance for all civil servants. This was only for the month of April, while measures for the month of May will be announced later.
The payments come after Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced in his speech at the fourth annual security conference in the West Bank city of Jericho on April 23 that his government would start paying 60% of the salaries of public servants for the month of April, on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.
The Palestinian government only paid 50% of the salaries in February and March following the decision of the Israeli Cabinet on Feb. 17 to deduct 502 million shekels ($138 million) a year from Palestinian clearing funds.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said that under a law passed by the Knesset in July 2018, Israel deducted this amount because it represents the money the Palestinian Authority (PA) had paid in 2018 to prisoners in Israel and to families of people the PA terms martyrs and to people wounded as a result of confrontations with Israel.
