Finance Minister: Donors Renew Their Support for the Government's Reform Agenda

SadaNews - Finance Minister Estefan Salama confirmed that the donors' meeting for Palestine witnessed broad support for the reform agenda implemented by the Palestinian government, noting that the majority of participants praised the reform measures, which enhances confidence in the Palestinian government and contributes to gathering more support for it and for our people.

Regarding the clearance funds, Salama clarified in a statement today, Tuesday, that a number of participating countries explicitly called for pressing Israel to release the withheld funds, pointing out that international efforts are still ongoing, but achieving progress on this matter requires real political pressure from international partners on the Israeli government.

He indicated that the sectors of health, education, and security represent the priorities of the government in the current budget, noting that the donors' attention is particularly focused on the health sector, as the long-awaited Spanish payment for West Bank hospitals has been disbursed, alongside discussions on allocating an additional payment and announcing new pledges to support the health sector, in addition to limited pledges to support the Palestinian government's treasury.

He added that the largest portion of the support announced during the meeting was allocated to assist our people in the Gaza Strip, explaining that the value of the pledges amounted to about one billion dollars, hoping to start benefiting from them in the near future.

He noted that the meeting was co-chaired by the Palestinian government and the European Union, and the current phase requires all efforts to support the Gaza sector, stressing the government’s readiness to fully assume its responsibilities after the transition period ends.

On the issue of medicine, the minister confirmed that the government has held a series of meetings with medicine suppliers and has pledged to disburse monthly payments to them, in parallel with continuing to gather international support for the pharmaceutical sector, praising the commitment of Palestinian pharmaceutical companies to continue supplying the Ministry of Health and health facilities with medicines despite the financial challenges.