JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinian Authority has had to take out $350 million in loans to meet its 2009 budget.
Foreign countries have not made good on promised donations to the P.A.
P.A. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a statement Monday that the loans would enable the Palestinian Authority to pay public workers by June 7. But according to reports, the P.A. has nearly reached its credit limit.
The Palestinian Authority has received only a small amount of the $1.5 billion pledged by donor countries, mostly Arab states, for 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund. European countries and the United States have mostly fulfilled their pledges, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported.
The P.A. requires budget support of at least $120 million per month, according to Oussama Kanaan, the IMF representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
