[Ynet] As monetary aid from foreign Arab nations dries up and peace with Israel slips away, Paleostinian leaders are faced with deepening economic crisis.In the wake of collapsed peace talks with Israel, it's fair to say that the Paleostinian economy is in crisis. After several years of modest growth, the 'Arab Spring' entered, along with all of its impacts, effectively turning the tables on the Paleostinians.
Until the revolutions that sprang up in across the Arab world, the Paleostinian issue was high on the list of priorities for Mideast leaders (at least outwardly), but now, it has been pushed to the side of the road.
| Nobody loves you, Everybody hates you, Guess you'll go eat worms... |
Most Arab governments, if they still distribute funds, are sending their money to help Syrian refugees, preferring to help them instead of closing the deficit created by the Paleostinian Authority. Even the US, which adds $500 million yearly to the Paleostinian budget, have been dragging their feet during the last round of the grinding of the peace processor.
| Long, thin, slimy ones, Short, fat, juicy ones, Itsy, bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms. |
Contributors to PA aid since the beginning of the year are: Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Qatar, the World Bank and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
. The amount donated is a mere fraction compared to what the PA needs to function, most of which's income comes from monetary aid.
The PA deficit stood at $1.3 billion at the end of 2013 and is projected to reach $1.6 billion by the end of 2014. The effects of the crisis will be felt by businesses in the West Bank that will have to make do with late or even partial paychecks.
280,000 unemployed Paleostinians
The decline in interest in the plight of the Paleostinians, together with the lack of political prospects for a peaceful solution, creates concerns in the business sector of the West Bank.
The worry comes mostly from the decline in the quality of living (income per person fell by 2 percent last year) and a possible rise in unemployment in part due to Israel's frustration at a unity deal signed between Fatah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in Gazoo on April 23.
In the 20 years since the Oslo accords, the Paleostinians haven't created any replacement for their complete dependence on Israel (trade, employment, energy demands), despite many ooperation with other Arab sources.
Dr. Samir Halaila, the Paleostinian's most senior economist and the man behind Padico, Fadico, the biggest company working for the development of infrastructure in the West Bank, warned that continuing along the current status-quo will lead to a decline in the labor market.
He recently said that the Paleostinian economy is dependent on high growth rates of 8 percent per year at least for the next decade in order to bring down unemployment rates to a level he called, "reasonable."
Halila also knows that this goal will be difficult if not impossible to achieve and so, like many others, he's concerned that the economic future of the Paleostinians is not auspicious.
In Halila's opinion, the PA needs to declare an economic state of emergency due to currently low growth rates and high unemployment.
According to official figures from the PA, unemployment was at 28.5 percent at the end of 2013 (including Gazoo) and the International Monetary Fund indicates that maximum growth for 2014 will reach 2.5 percent.
According to the estimates, 280 thousand Paleostinians are currently unemployed.
| Guess Abu Abbas's plan to push the juices off the land by sheer mass of Palestinian bodies isn't working as well as planned... And with the world-wide recession, sending those bodies abroad to work isn't going to work very well, either. Bummer, dood. |