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- Mar 6, 2017
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According to a recent European Union report, “Since 2008, the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland have provided over 14 billion dollars in official development assistance to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians.”
As part of the continued aid, the EU recently finalized a new 296 million euro aid package for the PA and the Palestinians for 2023. In the press release following the ceremony announcing the newest EU aid package to the PA, the EU noted:
The results of the examination shows a huge difference between the sum the PA reports to the world that it paid its civil servants and the sum PMW calculated to be the actual PA expenditure based on the PA’s own published labor reports.
PMW’s findings indicate, that in most years, there is a substantial difference between the PA reports - some years over a billion shekels – a sum which is even greater than the aid the PA received from the EU in that year.
For example, in 2022, according to the PA’s budget performance reports, the PA claimed to have paid its civil servants a cumulative sum of 8,114,105,436 shekels. However, according to the PA’s labor reports, the actual sum the PA paid to its civil servants was closer to 6,881,372,495 shekels, leaving a difference of 1,232,732,941 shekels or €302,374,788.
Since the EU is providing substantial aid to the PA, and wants to know exactly where every euro is spent, the question that the EU accountants/economists should be asking themselves is where is that aid money really going?
Methodology
To conduct the examination, PMW looked at two central PA publications.
On the one hand, PMW examined the monthly budget performance reports published by the PA Ministry of Finance.
As part of an agreement to receive funding from the World Bank, since 2008 the PA has been required to publish a range of financial documents, including its annual budget and monthly budget performance reports.
While the PA has not published an annual budget since 2018 and has occasionally tried to hide its budget performance reports, as PMW has repeatedly exposed, as a general rule, when available, the budget performance reports are meant to provide the international community with the ability to assess the PA’s monthly and annual income and expenditure.
In these reports, the PA provides, inter alia, a total of the PA’s monthly and annual expenditure on “Wages and salaries” paid to all the PA civil servants in all the different PA ministries and branches. The following is an example of an expenditure table that appeared in the PA’s Dec. 2022 budget performance report:
The end of the table shows, that the PA claims to have paid its civil servants, in 2022, a cumulative sum of 8,114,054,360 shekels (as the note at the top of the chart explains, the sums that appear in the charts are in thousands)
On the other hand, PMW examined quarterly “Labour Force Survey”s published by the PA Central Bureau of Statistics.
In these reports, the PA provides detailed statistical information regarding the participation of Palestinians in the Palestinian labor market. As opposed to the budget performance reports, which are meant, ostensibly, to be able to provide decision-makers with a general overview of the PA’s finances, the “Labour Force Surveys” provide detail-focused statistics on a wide range of different Palestinian employment-related subjects. These reports are designed to support more exact financial analysis.
Among the many other employment indicators, the “Labour Force Surveys” provide statistics about the entire number of Palestinians who are employed, with a division in percentages, of those employed in the private and public (PA civil servants) sectors. Additionally, the “Labour Force Surveys” also provide information on the average daily/monthly salaries paid by the different employers, including details of the sums the PA pays to its civil servants.
(full article online)
palwatch.org
As part of the continued aid, the EU recently finalized a new 296 million euro aid package for the PA and the Palestinians for 2023. In the press release following the ceremony announcing the newest EU aid package to the PA, the EU noted:
Since a considerable amount of the EU aid to the PA is spent on paying the “salaries and pensions” of the PA civil servants and on the backdrop of the PA teachers strike that has continued on since February 5th, Palestinian Media Watch decided to zoom in on the subject of the PA salaries to its civil servants since 2016.
The results of the examination shows a huge difference between the sum the PA reports to the world that it paid its civil servants and the sum PMW calculated to be the actual PA expenditure based on the PA’s own published labor reports.
PMW’s findings indicate, that in most years, there is a substantial difference between the PA reports - some years over a billion shekels – a sum which is even greater than the aid the PA received from the EU in that year.
For example, in 2022, according to the PA’s budget performance reports, the PA claimed to have paid its civil servants a cumulative sum of 8,114,105,436 shekels. However, according to the PA’s labor reports, the actual sum the PA paid to its civil servants was closer to 6,881,372,495 shekels, leaving a difference of 1,232,732,941 shekels or €302,374,788.
Since the EU is providing substantial aid to the PA, and wants to know exactly where every euro is spent, the question that the EU accountants/economists should be asking themselves is where is that aid money really going?
Methodology
To conduct the examination, PMW looked at two central PA publications.
On the one hand, PMW examined the monthly budget performance reports published by the PA Ministry of Finance.
As part of an agreement to receive funding from the World Bank, since 2008 the PA has been required to publish a range of financial documents, including its annual budget and monthly budget performance reports.
While the PA has not published an annual budget since 2018 and has occasionally tried to hide its budget performance reports, as PMW has repeatedly exposed, as a general rule, when available, the budget performance reports are meant to provide the international community with the ability to assess the PA’s monthly and annual income and expenditure.
In these reports, the PA provides, inter alia, a total of the PA’s monthly and annual expenditure on “Wages and salaries” paid to all the PA civil servants in all the different PA ministries and branches. The following is an example of an expenditure table that appeared in the PA’s Dec. 2022 budget performance report:
The end of the table shows, that the PA claims to have paid its civil servants, in 2022, a cumulative sum of 8,114,054,360 shekels (as the note at the top of the chart explains, the sums that appear in the charts are in thousands)
On the other hand, PMW examined quarterly “Labour Force Survey”s published by the PA Central Bureau of Statistics.
In these reports, the PA provides detailed statistical information regarding the participation of Palestinians in the Palestinian labor market. As opposed to the budget performance reports, which are meant, ostensibly, to be able to provide decision-makers with a general overview of the PA’s finances, the “Labour Force Surveys” provide detail-focused statistics on a wide range of different Palestinian employment-related subjects. These reports are designed to support more exact financial analysis.
Among the many other employment indicators, the “Labour Force Surveys” provide statistics about the entire number of Palestinians who are employed, with a division in percentages, of those employed in the private and public (PA civil servants) sectors. Additionally, the “Labour Force Surveys” also provide information on the average daily/monthly salaries paid by the different employers, including details of the sums the PA pays to its civil servants.
(full article online)
Do the Europeans know or care where their aid to the PA goes? | PMW Analysis
Do the Europeans know or care where their aid to the PA goes?
palwatch.org
