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Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee
(Washington, DC, 2015-09-30) World Bank
Palestinians are getting poorer on average for the third year in a row. As evidenced in previous World Bank reports, the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy has been progressively eroding since the signing of the Oslo accords, in particular its industry and agriculture. Even though donor aid had increased government-funded services and fueled consumption-driven growth during 2007 to 2011, this growth model has proved unsustainable. Donor support has significantly declined in recent years and, in any case, aid cannot sustainably make up for inadequate private investment. Thus, growth has started to slow since 2012 and the Palestinian economy contracted in 2014 following the Gaza war. In early 2015, GDP was still lower than it was a year ago. Due to population growth, real GDP per capita has been shrinking since 2013. Unemployment remains high, particularly amongst Gaza’s youth where it exceeds 60 percent, and 25 percent of Palestinians currently live in poverty. Against the backdrop of weak economic growth, reduced donor aid, and temporary suspension of revenue payments by the Government of Israel (GoI), the Palestinian Authority’s reform efforts have not been able to prevent another year with a financing gap. The persistence of this situation could potentially lead to political and social unrest. In short, the status quo is not sustainable and downside risks of further conflict and social unrest are high.
IFC Annual Report 2010 : Where Innovation Meets Impact, Volume 1. Main Report
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010) International Finance Corporation
More than 200 million people in the developing world were out of work this year. Over 1 billion are hungry, while millions more are confronting the threat that climate change poses. The United Nations estimates that 884 million people don't have safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. The population of the developing world will expand by a third over the next four decades, growth that will strain already weak infrastructure. In this environment, International Finance Corporation (IFC) is innovating to create opportunity where it's needed most. IFC committed a record $18 billion in fiscal year 2010, $12.7 billion of which was for own account. We invested in 528 projects, an 18 percent increase from FY09. Advisory Services portfolio comprised 736 active projects valued at more than $850 million, with annual expenditures totaling $268 million. Countries served by the International Development Association, or IDA, accounted for nearly half our investments 255 projects totaling $4.9 billion and more than 60 percent of Advisory Services expenditures. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 19 percent of our investment commitments and 25 percent of Advisory Services expenditures. The invested a record $1.64 billion in clean energy, leveraging $6.8 billion, while climate change related projects grew to 15 percent of the value of our Advisory Services portfolio. The investments in microfinance rose 10 percent to $400 million, expanding microfinance portfolio to $1.2 billion.