Thursday the Palestinian Authority received $22.3 million in financial aid from the World Bank.The World Bank announced Tuesday that it would provide $22.3 million in budget support for the Palestinian Authority. The funds are to be used to support education, health care and other critical social programs as well as to support current economic reforms.
The financial aid derives from the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund (PRDP-MDTF), which is a budget support mechanism administered by the World Bank and and funded by governments in Australia, France, Kuwait, Norway, and the UK.
On Monday, Israeli and Palestinian officials told Reuters that the Israeli government had applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $1 billion on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in order to help with an estimated shortfall of $1.3 billion. Ha’aretz reported that the request was denied because the IMF did not want to set a precedent of one state getting a loan on behalf of a non-state body. Israel said it applied for the bridge loan on behalf of the Palestinian Authority because it is not a member state and therefore cannot receive funds from the IMF.
