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IMF, South Sudan in Pact for Emergency Funds of $112.7 Mln

Sacs of corn are loaded onto trucks in the Sudanese Red Sea city of Port Sudan, as part of the US support for Sudan in the field of humanitarian aid, on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
Sacs of corn are loaded onto trucks in the Sudanese Red Sea city of Port Sudan, as part of the US support for Sudan in the field of humanitarian aid, on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
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IMF, South Sudan in Pact for Emergency Funds of $112.7 Mln

Sacs of corn are loaded onto trucks in the Sudanese Red Sea city of Port Sudan, as part of the US support for Sudan in the field of humanitarian aid, on November 20, 2022. (AFP)
Sacs of corn are loaded onto trucks in the Sudanese Red Sea city of Port Sudan, as part of the US support for Sudan in the field of humanitarian aid, on November 20, 2022. (AFP)

The International Monetary Fund and South Sudan have reached a staff-level agreement for the release of about $112.7 million in emergency financing, the fund said on Tuesday. 

"This emergency financing under the new Food Shock Window will help South Sudan address food insecurity, support social spending, and boost international reserves," the IMF said in a statement. 

The IMF's executive board will approve the financing in coming weeks, the fund said. 

In early-November, United Nations agencies said up to 7.8 million people in South Sudan, two-third of the population, may face severe food shortages during next year's April-to-July lean season due to floods, drought and conflict. 

On Tuesday, the IMF put the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity at an estimated 8.3 million. 

"The combination of continued localized conflict, four consecutive years of severe flooding, and the rising price of staple commodities from Russia's war in Ukraine has increased the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity," it said. 

South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after getting independence from Sudan in 2011 and while a peace agreement signed four years ago is largely holding, the transitional government has been slow to unify various military factions. 

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.