Ramallah – The World Bank warned Tuesday the Palestinian economy faces a “bleak” outlook as Israel continues its blockade of the Gaza Strip and has increased restrictions on the occupied West Bank. Pictured, Gaza City.
In a new report, the global lender commended efforts by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to slim its public wage bill but said the economies of the Gaza Strip and West Bank remain heavilygaza dependent on foreign donor support and hindered by Israeli restrictions.
Israeli-imposed “restrictions on movement and access in the West Bank and the restrictions resulting in near-blockade in Gaza remain among the most important obstacles to growth and private sector development in the Palestinian territories,” the report said.
“If not eased or lifted, the Palestinian economy is expected to continue operating well below its potential,” it added.
Some observers expressed fears of radical Israeli policy changes in the West Bank under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, formed in December.
Further highlighting the West Bank’s economic dependence on Israel, the report noted some 22.5 percent of Palestinians in the territory work in Israel or Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Overall unemployment across Gaza and the West Bank stood at 24.4 percent, it added.
Outside “sources of risks, such as in the areas of food and energy prices, mean the overall economic outlook remains bleak”, Stefan Emblad, the World Bank’s country director for the Palestinian territories, said in the report.
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