Results Announcement

International Investment Position & External Debt –First Quarter 2015

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) announced the preliminary results of the International Investment Position (IIP), and External Debt statistics for Palestine as of end of first quarter 2015.

The primary results of the IIP (external assets – foreign liabilities) for Palestine at the end of first quarter 2015 revealed that the net IIP amounted to about USD 1,308 million, which means that the Palestinian economy’s investment outside Palestine outweighs investment in Palestine from abroad.  The resident cash deposits in foreign banks and foreign exchange in the Palestinian economy accounted for the bulk of the external assets, constituting 60.0%.

The total stocks of External Assets for Palestine amounted to USD 5,923 million, the Foreign Direct Investment abroad had contributed to 2.7%, Portfolio Investments abroad reached 19.6%, while Other Foreign Investments abroad (mainly currency and deposits) reached 66.6% and Reserve Assets amounted to 11.1%.  At sectoral level, the external investments of banking represented a large share of the External Assets, standing at 71.3%.

The total stocks of Foreign Liabilities in Palestine (stocks of non- residents invested in Palestine) had amounted to USD 4,615 million, the Foreign Direct Investment in Palestine contributed 51..7% Portfolio Investments in Palestine reached 14.3% and Other Investments in Palestine (mainly loans and deposits from abroad) amounted to 34.0%.  According to sectoral level, the foreign investments in banking sector contributed a major value in the Foreign Liabilities, represented by 32.5%.

The Gross External Debt on different sectors of the Palestinian economy reached USD 1,575 million,  The debt on general government sector represented 67.7%, while debt on banks sector reached 28.2%, and debt on other sectors (non-financial, insurance enterprises NGOs and household sectors) amounted to 3.8%, the lending between affiliated companies contributed to 0.3%.

The International Investment Position (IIP) is an accounting sheet that records the investments stocks for the residents in Palestine (individuals, institutions and government) that was invested in the rest of the world (abroad) under the name of (assets), and compares them to the investments stocks owned by residents outside Palestine (individuals, institutions and governments) invested in Palestine under the name of (liabilities).

The Balance of Payments Manual - fifth edition, issued by the International Monetary Fund in 1993, divides the assets and liabilities into direct investment (investment by 10% and more in the non-resident capital), and portfolio investment (investment less than 10% in the non-resident capital as well as investment in bonds), and other investments (it divides these other investments into stocks of trade credit, loans, currency and deposits and any other assets or liabilities), in addition to the Reserve Assets, i.e. Stocks held by the Monetary Authority to address the imbalances in the Balance of Payments, it is worth mentioning that the Reserve Assets are only included in the asset side.

The External Debt is an accounting sheet records the debt stocks on Palestinian economy sectors due to non-residents, these include (loans from non-residents, the non-residents deposits deposited in the banks sector in Palestine, the Palestinian bonds purchased by non-residents, debt transactions between the non-resident enterprises and fellow enterprises in Palestine, in addition to any other liabilities on Palestinian economy)  the data of External Debt have been extracted from the liabilities side in the international investment position matrix (debt items).   Preparing, classifying and publishing of the data based on (External Debt Statistics Manual) issued by IMF in 2003, this manual is harmonized with 5^th edition of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual  

Table 1: International Investment Position (IIP) stock by Economic Sectors For Palestine, at the end of the First Quarter 2015

 Value in million USD

Notes:

- The data in the above table are closed to the nearest integer.

- The data does not include the value of land owned by non-residents.

* International investment position (net): equals total external assets minus total foreign liabilities.

** Currency and deposits: Including residents deposits in banks abroad, In addition to foreign currency cash in Palestinian  economy.

*** Currency and deposits: Include the deposits of non-residents deposited in local banks.

Table 2: Gross External Debt position on Palestine, at the end of the

First Quarter 2015

Value in million USD