PA will borrow from banks if necessary
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 12, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority will start talks with the private sector, and still has bank funds available to cover its financial crisis, the newly-appointed PA minister of economy Jawad Naji said Monday. The Palestinian Monetary Authority chief Jihad al-Wazir said Sunday the PA had reached its maximum limit for bank borrowing. But the minister told Ma'an: "If we need, we will borrow from banks to pay salaries." "In fact there are deposits and cash which we haven’t used so far," Naji continued.


Quarter of Palestinians suffer from Poverty, says Statistics Bureau
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from WAFA
June 12, 2012 - 12:00am


Around 25.8% of Palestinians suffered from poverty in the Palestinian Territory in 2011, said a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Monday. It showed that slightly more than one out of four individuals was living below poverty line in 2011, 17.8% in the West Bank and 38.8% in Gaza Strip. Similarly about 12.9% of individuals were living below the deep poverty line in 2011, 7.8% in the West Bank and 21.1% in Gaza Strip.


Monetary chief: PA bank borrowing reaches limit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 11, 2012 - 12:00am


The head of the Palestine Monetary Authority said Sunday that the Palestinian Authority government has reached the maximum limit of borrowing from Palestinian banks. Jihad Al-Wazir said in a statement that banks in Palestine increased lending to the government by over $300 million in the last two months, and cannot lend more unless repayments from donor countries come through. The Authority has set supervisory measures to bolster the banking sector in the face of any political or economic shocks, al-Wazir added.


Invest in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Allison Good - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel's top brass made much ado about the peace process during the International Institute for Security Studies conference last week. “This is an opportunity to advance the peace process, an opportunity which may not repeat itself, in my opinion, in the next ten years,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said about his 94-member Knesset coalition. Netanyahu can invoke historic conditions all he wants, but the numbers are in, and a Palestinian state, if declared in the near future, would be economically unsustainable.


Palestinian Banks Reach 'The Red Line'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
by Danny Rubenstein - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestine Monetary Authority Governor, Dr Jihad Al Wazir, warns against escalation of the financial crisis plaguing the Palestinian Authority. In an interview with the Israeli daily business newspaper Calcalist, Al Wazir says that the regional and global situation portends further deterioration. He cautions that "the financial crisis the Palestinian government is experiencing may worsen even further if Arab States fail to transfer the promised [aid] funds.


Palestinian financial problems
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ray Hanania - (Opinion) May 22, 2012 - 12:00am


Much is made of the fact that the late president Yasser Arafat controlled billions in funds that were used to support the Palestinian struggle for statehood and freedom. And since it also involved politics, more than a few people asserted there was corruption, asking how could one man be in charge of so much money? When George Washington led the American revolution against the British in the mid-18th century, he also controlled a vast sum of money, in the tens of millions, which back then was the equivalent of hundreds of millions, maybe even billions.


Palestinians Turn to Gulf States
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
by Danny Rubenstein - May 8, 2012 - 12:00am


The joint customs system (or customs union, as it is variously known) established under the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the geographic proximity and the obstacles impeding [Palestinian] exports to foreign countries are the factors due to which most of the Palestinian foreign trade is conducted with Israel. However, in recent years, things seem to have changed.


In Ramallah, Clinton Tech Advisor Says US Backs Open Internet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's top technology adviser told a group of Palestinian bloggers Wednesday that efforts to censor the Internet would ultimately backfire. 


Gas Deal Dispute Reflects Change in Israel-Egypt Relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jeffrey Fleishman - April 24, 2012 - 12:00am


CAIRO — The decorum of diplomacy has devolved into embarrassing headlines and testy one-liners in the increasingly strained relations between Egypt and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Egypt's Sinai peninsula had become a "kind of Wild West" overrun by militants, terrorists and arms smugglers. Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had suggested massing more Israeli troops along the border with Egypt.


Was Egypt’s Decision to Shut Down Gas Pipe to Israel Politics or Business?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Bradley Hope, Hugh Naylor - April 24, 2012 - 12:00am


CAIRO / JERUSALEM // The Egyptian government's abrupt announcement on Sunday that it was ending its natural gas supply to Israel has left many analysts and businessmen wondering whether the decision was politics or business. Government officials on both sides tried to play down the decision yesterday, pointing to violations of contracts on either side of East Mediterranean Gas Company, the intermediary that manages the Egypt-Israel pipeline.



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