Position Paper on the Government’s Decision to Extend their Work on the 2023 Budget

Position Paper on the Government’s Decision to Extend their Work on the 2023 Budget

Amidst the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip; siege and fragmentation of the West Bank; exacerbating economic conditions following the dismissal of Palestinian workers from their jobs inside the Green Line; sporadic disbursement of salaries to public sector employees; irregular provision of basic public services (e.g., education and health); and the importance of rearranging government spending priorities by adopting a 2024 Budget that corresponds to the Palestinian people’s priorities in a way that mitigates the effects of the genocidal war on Gaza and enhances the steadfastness of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank - in cooperation between the government, civil society organizations, private sector, academics, experts, and researchers, the Caretaker Government announced, in its session dated 25/3/2024, the President’s endorsement to extend their work on the 2023 Budget for a period of three months, with the extension period ending June 2024.

This extension was done with no legal basis and without clarifying the government spending priorities since the beginning of 2024. It also failed to specify the public spending priorities in the second quarter of 2024 and the ways of distributing financial resources. It is also worth noting that the Palestinian government and the Ministry of Finance have been withholding the monthly expenditure data since October 2023. This created a state of ambiguity regarding the nature and priorities of government spending, decreased public budget transparency, undermined the possibility of community accountability, prevented the follow-up of government spending priorities, and obscured the ways of distributing the available financial resources. Hence, it clearly contradicts the Palestinian government’s speech in Session No. (241) of 29/01/2024 regarding the launching of the new phase of implementing the government reform programme, which included: strengthening community partnership, enhancing public budget transparency, and publishing monthly financial reports in a periodic manner.

Therefore, we, the Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency, hereby affirm:

• The need for the Caretaker Government to adhere to what they announced in their reform programme concerning the “true partnership” with all components of the Palestinian society (including civil society organizations), especially regarding public spending priorities amidst the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
• It is vital to work collectively with all constituents of the Palestinian society to prepare the 2024 General Budget, approve it within the legal time frame, and direct all financial resources and spending priorities towards strengthening the steadfastness of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is also essential to provide relief to our people in the Gaza Strip, and work on pooling and consolidating the Palestinian people’s financial resources to strengthen their resilience.
• The Caretaker Government must adhere to the principle of Transparency in managing public funds. Therefore, the government is obliged to disclose the amounts of monthly deductions from clearance revenues and [also] the agreement to transfer the withheld funds to Norway.
• The Caretaker Government has the duty to publish the monthly spending reports that have been concealed since October 2023, [in order] to enable civil society organizations to follow up on government spending and public priorities.