AMMAN Ñ Palestinians are quietly moving their financial assets out
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Jordan.
Banking sources in Amman said the trend began in 2001 and accelerated
over the past six months and reflects growing
concern over their future amid the war with Israel.
The sources said most of the transfers involved the removal of assets
from Jordanian banks that operate in the West Bank. These assets were
transferred into Amman branches of the same banks.
Overall, the sources said, Palestinians are believed to have transferred
at least $20 million in funds during the first four months of 2002. The
sources said that much of the funds were deposited into Jordanian dinar
rather than U.S. dollar accounts.
Deposits in Jordanian banks increased to nearly $2.5 billion by the end
of April, the sources said. About $1.8 billion were in U.S. dollar accounts
and the remainder were in Jordanian and other currencies.
[In an unrelated development, Israel's High Court has approved a
military request to expel two Palestinians from their homes in the northern
West Bank and resettle them in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, the court ruled
that the Palestinians would be banished to the Gaza Strip for two years.]
The sources reported a drop in deposits in Jordanian banks in the
Palestinian Authority. They said assets in these bank branches reached more
than $3 billion [2.151 billion dinars] at the end of April 2002. The level
of deposits a year earlier was 2.256 billion dinars.
The increase in Palestinian deposits in Jordan was reported as Amman has
restricted Palestinian entry into the Hashemite kingdom. Jordan is said to
fear a massive flight of Palestinians from the West Bank amid the war with
Israel and harsh economic conditions.
PA officials have acknowledged that Western economic aid has largely not
arrived for Palestinian reconstruction projects. Mohammad Shtayyeh, director
of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, said
the European Union provided the PA with 5 million euros to rebuild its
destroyed institutions and another 10 million euros to the
municipalities to ensure basic services and salaries.
A United Nations report said the Palestinian economy has rapidly
deteriorated and unemployment has run as high as 50 percent. The report said
Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip have run out of money
and must rely on handouts, the sale of personal items and credit to survive.
The poverty rates estimated by the United Nations stand at 55 percent in the
West Bank and 60 percent in Gaza.
