The new ministers of the Palestinian Authority (PA) have given themselves a $2,000 raise, a move which was done illegally and at a time that PA officials are not being paid their full wages, and the average salary in the PA stands at $20 a day.
Leaked documents show that the pay hike was not confirmed by the relevant authorities, and was therefore illegal. PA head Mahmoud Abbas is paid $6,000 a month, and his ministers make $5,000 a month.
Abbas is the one who authorized the raise, the documents show.
A senior PA official confirmed that the documents were authentic, but claimed that the decision on the raise was made by the previous government. However, the decision is still in effect and has not been rescinded.
New PA Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtayyeh has vowed to cut the PA’s expenses when he recently took office.
The PA’s Ministry of Finance on Tuesday announced that the government will be paying only 60 percent of the monthly payroll of the civil servants for the month of May following Israel’s decision to deduct NIS 502 million ($138) a year from the PA tax revenues.
The PA spent about NIS 500,600,000 ($130 million) in 2018 on stipends for terrorists.
However, Abbas has repeatedly claimed that the PA is facing a financial crisis following Israel’s move and has demanded further funds from donor countries.
In the meantime, the unemployment rate in the PA increased in 2018 to reach 31 percent, compared with 28 percent in 2017, and the number of unemployed individuals increased from 377,000 in 2017 to 426,000 in 2018.
