West Bank economy heading toward growth for first time in years
According to IMF report to be released next week, projected figure of 7% growth depends on Israeli policy.
By Reuters Tags: Israel news Middle East peace PalestiniansThe economy in Palestinian West Bank remains on course to grow about 7 percent this year, for the first growth since 2005, according to the International Monetary Fund.
In notes to media accompanying a report the IMF will present to donors at the United Nations on Sept. 22, the international lending agency said on Sunday achieving the projected figure largely depended on Israel's policy towards the Palestinians.
"For the first time since 2005, there is a realistic chance that the downward trend in Palestinians' living standards in the West Bank can be reversed in the near future, provided that [Israeli] restrictions on movement and access continue to eased," said Oussama Kanaan, the IMF's representative in the West Bank and Gaza.
Declaring it wanted to shore up the economy in the West Bank, where Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas holds sway, Israel has removed several major military roadblocks, easing the flow of Palestinian traffic in the territory.
But hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints remain, international monitors say. Israel, which captured the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, says the measures are vital to Israeli security.
Kanaan called for a "timetable with specific targets for the lifting of remaining restrictions" within the West Bank, a move that could improve investor confidence.
He said growth in real GDP per capita could not be sustained in 2010 unless trade restrictions were also lifted between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to cut red tape in Israeli-Palestinian trade that includes time-consuming "back-to-back" transfers of goods to and from Israeli and Palestinian trucks at West Bank crossing points.
Turning to the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave controlled by Hamas Islamists, Kanaan said the situation there "remains very difficult despite a limited easing" of the Israeli blockade.
Israel is under international pressure to allow a free flow of reconstruction material into the Gaza Strip to repair or rebuild buildings damaged or destroyed in the 22-day offensive it launched in December after rocket attacks by militants.
In his notes, Kanaan said the fiscal policies of the Palestinian Authority, whose power base had been limited to the West Bank since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces loyal to Abbas in 2007, were prudent.
"Continuation of fiscal retrenchment, combined with lower projected emergency spending for Gaza, will result in a substantial reduction in the recurrent (Palestinian Authority) budget deficit from $1.5 billion in 2009 to $1.2 billion in 2010," he wrote.
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Dear, One can't have economy in a prison like living conditions, it was very much the same during the apartheid regime in SA. As long one is not allowed to sell his products by putting up check points allowing settlers freely to pass and the Palestinians are turned back I am afraid that the system of collective punishment is put in working against the very business minded Palestinians I would say.
their young men and women who died carrying a strap bomb? OOPS! Maybe Arafag's 'fund for loons' helped? Paid birth control. How quaint.
Potential growth more likely depends on the doubling of international aid in the past year, compared to previous years. See the report of the UN Trade and Development Board, at: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/tdb56d3_en.pdf
if so, that's their only real source of disposal income. Wonder what happens when the contributors stop supporting terror?
That justification of the barrier was so farfetched it must be a joke.
Economic growth? Palestinians won't like that. Complaining about abject poverty has been one of their key whinges.
So, to whom to believe, to the "Eleder" or to the IMF, to the Economist, to the people in Nablus and Ramallah or rather to those who appear to eagerly sling mud at everything Israel such as the former president of the US?
A prosperous Palestine is a potential economic partner. A prosperous Palestinian is not a terrorist. People deprived of their land, homes, tax revenues and freedom to travel within their own country becomne desparate. To sustain themselves and families, they must react. Israel can build a lasting peace. Recognize Palestine as a separate nation. Provide financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding a viable nation. Partner with Palestinians developing businesses. Withdraw the IDF fully. End the Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Share Jerusalem as the capitol of two nations with equal rights. Give the Palestinians a reason to trust Israel. Moshe Dayan warned against prolonged occupation and settlements in 1968. It is not too late to take his advice.
See what happens when you can't send suicide bombers? The security wall isn't just stopping attacks against Israelis, it's forcing the Palestinians to actually concentrate on doing some nation building. Take away the wall, and you'd have suicide bombings back in a moment, with the Palestinians again spending more time stabbing each other in the back and pilfering their own treasury. If the Pals keep this up, maybe they'll eventually be too busy with their economy to allow the whackos to control their lives again by expending all their energy in killing Israeli civilians. This story shows that when Palestinians aren't busy blowing up buses and restaurants in Jerusalem they can actually achieve progress. All they have to do is convince their cousins in Gaza to do the same instead of rocketing civilians in Sderot (1/2 dozen or more attacks in the past week alone), then maybe we could open the Gaza border a bit and get back to the negotiating table.
Amazing the results when the Palestinians stop concentrating on sending suicide bombers. If they keep it up then maybe we Israelis will agree to take the suicide bomber barrier wall down. However, we still don't trust the Pals very much at all, so the security wall will stay up for now no matter how much the Pals and their supporters repeatedly bleat the "apartheid wall" lie.
Seems that Israel isn't hurting their 'growth' a bit.