September 21, 2012
World Bank: Urgent action needed to avoid PA fiscal crisis
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The World Bank called on donors to act “urgently” to prevent a “deepening fiscal crisis” in the Palestinian territories.
Israel also needs to remove barriers to developing the West Bank economy, the World Bank said.
In a statement about its report published this week on the PA’s economy, the World Bank called for “immediate donor action coupled with freeing of untapped West Bank resources.”
Yet, “even with this financial support, sustainable economic growth cannot be achieved without a removal of the barriers preventing private sector development,” Mariam Sherman, World Bank Country Director for the West Bank and Gaza.said in the statement.
She added this applied “especially” to Area C – a non-contiguous area which makes up 60% of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control. Approximately 5.8% of the Palestinian population of the West Bank lives in Area C.
Entitled "Fiscal Crisis, Economic Prospects: The Imperative for Economic Cohesion in the Palestinian Territories", the report highlights the untapped resources of the West Bank as a potential source of private sector growth.
