Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) announce the  Preliminary results of the International Investment Position and External Debt for the Palestinian Territory 2011.

Stocks of Palestinian assets invested abroad are about USD 5,233 million.
while Stocks of foreign liabilities on the Palestinian economy are  about USD 4,512 million

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) have prepared a press release for the International Investment Position (IIP), and External Debt statistics of the Palestinian Territory in 2011.

The primary results of the IIP (external assets – foreign liabilities) for the Palestinian Territory by the end of 2011 revealed that the net IIP had amounted to about USD 721.0 million , which means that the Palestinian economy of its various sectors had invested outside Palestinian Territory by more than the investment amount in the Palestinian Territory from abroad.  The cash deposits of local banks in foreign banks and foreign exchange in the Palestinian economy had contributed of major value in the external assets, which represented  by 63.6% of their total value.

The total stocks of External Assets for the Palestinian Territory (Stocks of residents in the Palestinian Territory invested abroad) had amounted to USD 5,233.0 million, The Foreign Direct Investment abroad had contributed to 3.7%, Portfolio Investments abroad reached 21.9%, while Other Foreign Investments abroad reached 64.9%, and Reserve Assets amounted to 9.5%.  According to sectoral level, the external investments of banking sector had contributed a major value in the external assets, represented by 72.5% of the total value of external assets.

The total stocks of Foreign Liabilities at the Palestinian Territory (Stocks of non- residents invested in the Palestinian Territory) had amounted to USD 4,512.0 million ,The Foreign Direct Investment in the Palestinian Territory had contributed 51.6%, Portfolio Investments in the Palestinian Territory reached 13.5%, and Other Investments in the Palestinian Territory amounted to 34.9%. 

The International Investment Position (IIP) is defined as an accounting sheet records the investments stocks for the residents in the Palestinian Territory (individuals, institutions and government) that is invested in the rest of the world (abroad) under the name of (assets), on the one hand, and the investments stocks owned by residents outside Palestinian Territory  (individuals, institutions and governments) that is invested in the Palestinian Territory  under the name of (liabilities) on the other hand.

the Balance of Payments Manual - fifth edition, issued by the International Fund in 1993, divides the assets and liabilities to 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 (which are divided into stocks of trade credit, loans, currency and deposits and any other assets or liabilities), in addition to the Reserve Assets, which is defined as 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 defined as an accounting sheet records the debt stocks on Palestinian economy sectors due to nonresidents, which include (loans from nonresident, the nonresidents deposits deposited in the banks sector in Palestine, the Palestinian bonds purchased by nonresidents, 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.

The total stocks of External Debt on the Palestinian economy sectors had amounted to USD 1,597.0 million,  The debt on general government sector had contributed 69.8%, while debt on banks sector reached 22.5%, and debt on other sectors (non-financial, insurance enterprises NGOs  and household sectors) amounted to 6.3%, the lending between affiliated companies contributed  to 1.4%.

It’s worth to mention that external debt statistics are published for the first time by PCBS in cooperation with Palestine Monetary Authority, such data will be released periodically along with the data of the International Investment Position.