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World Bank Official: Palestinians on Verge of Bankruptcy

(Ha'aretz) Akiva Eldar - The Palestinian Authority is facing a fiscal crisis that could result, as early as next month, in it being unable to pay the salaries of its 130,000-plus officials and security staff, Nigel Roberts, the World Bank's man in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said in an interview. "The Palestinian government needs the continued assistance of the international community," Roberts declares, "and to secure that, it must begin to assume its responsibilities." Raising salaries at a time when resources are unavailable for this, he notes, is precisely the opposite of demonstrating responsibility and reliability. The direct consequence was a decision by the Bank, supported by the European Commission, to freeze $60 million for funding the PA's operating budget. Roberts notes that the amount of assistance the Palestinians are getting - $5 billion in five years, or $300 per capita annually - is the highest granted to any entity since World War II. "At the beginning of 2005, when Abu Mazen was elected president, we hoped for new momentum in the direction of governmental reforms." Arafat died, but everything pertaining to the corrupted system of government, the "Arafatism," is still alive and kicking, Roberts says. "We did not think that becoming accustomed to new norms would take so much time."
2006-01-09 00:00:00
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