The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said that tomorrow, Wednesday, it will pay 70% of the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees in the civil and military sectors for the month of August, amid its continuing financial crisis.
The ministry stated in a statement that “employees’ salaries for the month of August will be paid on Wednesday at a rate of no less than 70% and a minimum of 3,500 shekels ($925).” She added, “With this equation, more than 70% of employees will receive their full salary, and they are employees whose salaries do not exceed 3,500 shekels.”
She continued, “The rest of the outstanding dues to date are owed to the employees and will be disbursed when financial capabilities permit.”
The Palestinian Authority relies mainly on tax funds to pay the salaries of its employees and cover its operating expenses. The bulk of this money is collected by Israel on behalf of the Authority.
Israel collects tax money on goods that pass through it to the Palestinian market in exchange for a 3% commission, given that it controls all the crossings that connect the West Bank to the outside world.
The past years have witnessed a delay in transferring these funds, which led to the inability of the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its financial obligations, whether to its employees or to suppliers from the private sector.
The Palestinian Authority says that the total amount of clearing funds held by Israel has reached 6 billion shekels ($1.6 billion).
During the past year, Israel decided to withhold the value of the money paid by the Palestinian Authority to the families of martyrs and prisoners, and demanded that the Palestinian Authority not disburse money to them.
At the end of last month, Saudi Arabia announced the provision of monthly financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority worth $10 million. The Palestinian government said that it had received the first monthly payment.
A senior Palestinian official, who requested to remain anonymous, explained that other aid is expected to arrive from Qatar, the Emirates, and Kuwait during the coming period, with the same value as Saudi Arabia’s contribution.
Since November 2021, public employees in Palestine, numbering approximately 146,000, have been receiving reduced wages, due to the government’s inability to provide their entire monthly wage bill.
While the entire public sector wage bill (employees, retirees, semi-salaries such as allowances for prisoners, the wounded, the families of martyrs, and other subsidies) amounts to approximately one billion shekels per month ($266 million).