CAIRO, Saturday, June 22, 2019 (WAFA) – Arab finance ministers are scheduled to meet at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo tomorrow to discuss providing a financial safety net to support the budget of the Palestinian government, according to Husam Zaki, assistant secretary general of the Arab League.

The meeting comes in the aftermath of the severe financial crisis affecting the Palestinian budget as a result of Israel’s deduction of millions of dollars from the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians and the refusal of the Palestinian government to receive the remainder if it was not paid in full.

Zaki said in a press statement that the meeting comes in implementation of the resolution of the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting on April 21 in Cairo, where the foreign ministers pledged a monthly financial commitment of $100 million to support the Palestinian budget in the face of ongoing political and financial pressures.

“The financial situation of the [Palestinian] Authority (PA) needs to be reinforced because of the Israeli deductions from the Palestinian revenues, which have caused a deep financial impasse for the PA,” Zaki added.

Responding to a question whether the emergency conference of the Arab finance ministers is an Arab response to the US-sponsored economic workshop in Manama, he said, “There is no link between the meeting of Arab finance ministers and the economic workshop in Bahrain.”

M.N./M.K.