$9,491 Million Net Investment Position of Palestine at the End of the Third Quarter of 2025

SadaNews - The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Palestinian Monetary Authority have released the preliminary results for the international investment position and external debt of Palestine as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, as part of the periodic release on the international investment position and external debt statistics for Palestine, which represents a continuation of the joint efforts between the two institutions.

These results indicate that the disparity between the balances of Palestinian investments employed outside Palestine and the balances of foreign investments employed in the Palestinian economy (external assets – foreign liabilities) remains significant, amounting to $9,491 million USD.

57% of the total external asset balances of the Palestinian economy are in currency and deposits at the end of the third quarter of 2025 due to the absence of a Palestinian national currency. Additionally, receivables from Israel for clearance funds have increased by approximately 28% compared to the previous quarter.

In this context, the results indicate that the total balance of the Palestinian economy's assets invested abroad has reached $15,803 million USD, distributed as follows: 2% in foreign direct investment, 14% in portfolio investments, and 76% in other investments (mainly currency and deposits), with reserve assets accounting for 8%.

55% of the total foreign liabilities (commitments) of the Palestinian economy at the end of the third quarter of 2025 are from foreign direct investment.

Conversely, the total balance of foreign liabilities (commitments) of the Palestinian economy (non-resident investments in Palestine) is approximately $6,312 million USD, distributed among: 55% in foreign direct investment (including banks, insurance companies, and telecommunications companies owned by non-residents, along with properties owned by non-resident families, valued at $3,489 million USD), 11% in portfolio investments, and other investments (mainly loans and deposits from abroad) at about 34%.

The balance of government external debt stabilized at around $1.3 billion USD by the end of the third quarter of 2025.

Preliminary results indicated that the total external debt of the Palestinian economic sectors amounted to approximately $2,170 million USD at the end of the third quarter of 2025, reflecting a 2% increase compared to the previous quarter. This is distributed as: 62% of debt is owed to the government sector (to benefit from external financial Arab and international institutions, including the Al-Aqsa Fund, Qatar National Bank, and the World Bank), 35% to the banking sector (deposits from non-residents in banks operating in Palestine), and 2% to other sectors (non-banking financial companies, non-financial companies, non-governmental institutions, and households), with borrowing among affiliated companies representing less than 1%.

It is worth noting that the international investment position represents a record of the asset balances of residents in Palestine (individuals, companies, and government) invested abroad under the title of "assets" on one side, and the investment balances owned by non-residents outside of Palestine (individuals, companies, and governments) invested in Palestine under the title of "liabilities" on the other side. These assets and liabilities are classified (according to the "Balance of Payments Manual", 5th edition published by the International Monetary Fund in 1993) into direct investment (investment of 10% or more in the capital of a non-resident institution), portfolio investments (investment of less than 10% in the capital of a non-resident institution in addition to investments in bonds), other investments (commercial credit balances, loans, currency, deposits, and any other assets or liabilities), along with reserve assets defined as the balances held by central banks/monetary authorities to address imbalances in the balance of payments, which fall under the assets side only.

As for external debt, it represents a record of the debt balances owed by the Palestinian economy sectors to non-residents, including loans from non-residents and deposits from non-residents in the banking sector in Palestine, Palestinian bonds purchased by non-residents, and debt transactions between non-resident companies and their affiliates in Palestine, along with any other obligations on the Palestinian economy not mentioned. Data on external debt is obtained from the liabilities side of the international investment position system (debt items), based on the External Debt Statistics Manual issued by the International Monetary Fund in 2003, which is aligned with the Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition.