The Palestinian Prime Minister’s Advisor for Planning and Aid Coordination, Stephan Salameh, has revealed that an economic dialogue will resume on Tuesday between the Palestinian Authority and the US for the first time since 2016.
Speaking to the official Palestinian radio, Salameh said the Palestinian-American dialogue will take place via videoconference and will discuss ways to support the Palestinian economy and restore direct US support to the treasury of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
He said the PA will also request US pressure on Israel to stop deducting from Palestinian tax funds.
The PA has suffered from donor aid cuts over the past decade.
The Palestinian government's total revenues from foreign aid decreased by 89.6% during the first three months of 2021, according to data released by the Palestinian Finance Ministry.
Last month, the Authority’s 140,000 employees in the West Bank and Gaza saw a 25 percent cut of their salaries, an amount that the Finance Minister said will be paid out in arrears once Israel releases the withheld funds.
“These talks are important to us, especially under the current US administration. We hope, through dialogue, that US aid will return soon,” Salameh said.
In 2018, the United States passed legislation restricting some aid to the PA.
The Palestinian official stressed that the Biden administration has resumed its humanitarian support through third parties, while direct support to the treasury remains frozen.
“The US administration has promised to return financial support to the Palestinian treasury, but what is delaying this is the US laws that limit direct support to the Palestinian government, especially the operational support to the treasury, which was going to sustain salaries and poor families,” the official said.
Regarding European backing for the government’s treasury, Salameh said: “We are currently studying the agreements, and this support is expected to resume next February or March.”
The advisor said Palestinian officials expect 2022 to be better than this year in terms of international aid.
“We are also working to restore Arab support for the treasury,” he added.
