Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and

The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA(

The Deficit in Current Account is USD 1,778 Million

of the Palestinian Balance of Payments in Year 2021  

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) announced the preliminary results of the Palestinian Balance of Payments (Bop) for the year 2021 under the joint issuance cycle. It should be noted that the data excludes those parts of Jerusalem, which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967.

The deficit in trade balance of goods is the main reason behind the current account deficit

An incessant deficit in the Current Account (goods, services, income, current transfers) which totaled USD 1,778 million.  Mainly triggered by the deficit of the Trade Balance of Goods, which reached USD 6,014 million, as well as the deficit in Services Balance, which amounted to USD 940 million.

The compensations of employees working in Israel are the main reason behind the income account surplus

The surplus in Income Account (compensations of employees and investments income) amounted to USD 3,627 million in year 2021.  This surplus was due to compensations of the employees working in Israel, which reached USD 3,460 million. As for the received investments income, it amounted to USD 264 million; and was mainly caused by the income received on the portfolio investments abroad, in addition to the income on other investment (interest on deposits in particular).

The current transfers from abroad to other (non-government) sectors are the main reason behind the current transfers surplus

The Current Transfers achieved a surplus value amounted to USD 1,549 million in year 2021. where the current transfers for the government sector constituted 18% of the total transfers from abroad, while the percentage of the transfers to other sectors reached 82%.  The donors’ current transfers constituted 15% of total transfers from abroad.

The preliminary results showed a surplus value for the Capital and Financial Account amounted to USD 1,853 billion, the surplus in the Capital and Financial Account was mainly caused by the surplus in Financial Account which amounted to USD 1,381 million. There was an increase in the reserve assets at PMA amounted to USD 174 million in year 2021, compared to an increase of USD 37 million in year 2020.

It is worth mentioning that the Balance of Payments (BoP) is used to determine the economic position of a country compared to other countries worldwide, and to calculate the size of its external debt. This data enables researchers and decision makers to devise informed economic policies and development plans to improve their external balance to guarantee the stability of the state and sustain the economic growth. BoP data was prepared according to the latest international recommendations taking into account the specificity of the Palestinian situation.