MIFTAH
Thursday, 28 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

Ramallah – 9/2/2022 – As follow-up of public spending policies in decision-making positions in the social sector, MIFTAH recently released an analytical report on spending stipulations of the Ministry of Social Development in 2021, based on Finance Ministry reports of annual actual expenditures.

The report indicated that actual spending by the Ministry of Social Development including the Martyrs’ Families Institution, amounted to ILS931 million of the total sum of actual expenditures in the general budget, which was ILS16.1 billion, or 5.8% of overall expenditures. This marked a drop of 3.3% from 2020, during which the Ministry’s actual expenditures, including the Martyrs’ Families Institution, amounted to ILS1.5 billion, or 9.1% of overall public expenditures, at ILS15.9 billion.

The report showed that actual spending was mostly earmarked for remittance expenses, which included cash remittances for beneficiaries, cash assistance and allocations for the underprivileged. Expenditures in this clause amounted to ILS848.8 million in 2021, which was a drop of 61.4%, or a decrease of ILS534 million from 2020, when actual expenditures were approximately ILS1.4 billion.

The report also noted that in 2021, the Ministry of Social Development only disbursed one minimum installment of allocations for the poor out of the four installments the Ministry committed to at the beginning of 2021. This gap was attributed to the halt in EU contributions, estimated at 40% of the program’s expenditures. This is the first time only one installment is disbursed; in 2020, the government paid three of the four installments.

The salaries and wages clause saw an increase in actual spending, reaching ILS60.4 million in 2021, while it stood at ILS49.5 million in 2020. The report showed that this rise is due to several reasons, most notably annual periodic bonuses, the retroactive enactment of due promotions at the beginning of 2021, in addition to completing payments of Gaza Strip employee salaries.

Analysis of the Ministry of Social Development’s actual expenditures, especially abidance by installments and allocations for the underprivileged, is cause for much concern given the repercussions of a decline in allocation payments on poverty levels in Palestine. It also constitutes a threat to the already fragile social protection system in Palestine. This necessitates that the government reconsider its spending priorities regardless of its financial crisis due to Israel’s cuts in clearance tax returns and the drop in external funding to the general treasury.

The publication of actual spending reports are part of MIFTAH’s interventions within its Dialogue, Policy and Good Governance Program, with a focus on social justice in fiscal policies. The program seeks to develop just fiscal policies responsive to marginalized social sectors through follow-up of budgetary allocations and the actual overall spending in the various ministerial programs.

 
 
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