{"id":195418,"date":"2013-05-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=195418"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:00:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:00:25","slug":"auto-insert-195418","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-195418\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Palestinian reform efforts to improve public financial management – World Bank project report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Supporting Palestinian reform efforts to achieve fiscal sustainability and improve public financial management<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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With the World Bank’s support through the Development Policy Grant (DPG) Program III, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) was able to expand property tax collection from 22 municipalities in 2008 to 37 in 2010. The Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) social safety net program recertified over 60,000 households in the West Bank and 31,000 households in the Gaza Strip. <\/p><\/div>\n

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Challenge<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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For over a decade, the West Bank and Gaza (WB&G) has suffered episodes of violence and the destruction of property. The unstable security situation has led the Government of Israel (GoI) to impose restrictions on the movement of people and goods into, out of, between and within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This, along with the unpredictable and frequent closure of external and internal borders, has caused major disruptions to economic activity.  As a result, incomes fell and poverty rates and unemployment soared, with negative implications for the welfare of the Palestinian people during much of the last decade. The Palestinian Authority (PA) government has relied heavily on international donor support to finance its operations, develop government institutions, and ensure the delivery of public services. The 2006 election of a Hamas-led government caused most donors to withdraw direct PA support: the result was a blow to economic recovery and institution building. In mid-2007, a caretaker government was established, enabling the PA to rebuild basic operating systems that had deteriorated and create and strengthen the institutions necessary for a future Palestinian state.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Solution<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Through a series of internal and external consultations with stakeholders, civil society groups and international donors, the authorities developed a 3-year Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP). The plan focuses on strengthening the PA’s fiscal position and improving governance and accountability, while targeting spending to social sectors and priority public goods that foster private sector development. The plan can only be fully implemented in the West Bank, where the new government is in full control. However, it is designed to be expanded to Gaza as soon as the situation permits. <\/p><\/div>\n

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The grant program provided support to the PA’s implementation of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan with specific focus on strengthening the PA’s fiscal position through improved spending controls on the public sector wage bill, reductions in net lending through the transfer of electricity supply and distribution to commercial companies, better targeting of the social safety net to protect the most vulnerable populations, improved domestic revenue collection, and increasing government transparency and accountability and improving public financial management. <\/p><\/div>\n

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Results<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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The World Bank’s assistance has focused on mutually reinforcing goals: <\/p><\/div>\n

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Strengthen the PA’s fiscal position<\/p><\/div>\n