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West Bank Government 1996
Under the Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government
Arragements ("the DOP"), Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and
responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, and subsequently to an
elected Palestinian Council, as part of interim self-governing arrangements
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities
for the Gaza Strip and Jericho has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4
May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. A transfer
of powers and responsibilities in certain spheres for the rest of the West
Bank has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 29 August 1994 Agreement on
Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities. The DOP provides that
Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for
external security and for internal security and public order of settlements
and Israelis. Final status is to be determined through direct negotiations
within five years.
Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli military
administration and the effects of the Palestinian uprising (intifadah).
Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable investment have
been discouraged by a lack of local capital and restrictive Israeli
policies. Capital investment consists largely of residential housing, not
productive assets that would enable local Palestinian firms to compete with
Israeli industry. GDP has been substantially supplemented by remittances of
workers employed in Israel and Persian Gulf states. Such transfers from the
Gulf dropped after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In the wake of the
Persian Gulf crisis, many Palestinians have returned to the West Bank,
increasing unemployment, and export revenues have dropped because of the
decline of markets in Jordan and the Gulf states. Israeli measures to
curtail the intifadah also have added to unemployment and lowered living
standards. The area's economic situation has worsened since Israel's partial
closure of the territories in 1993.
GDP - purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1994 est.)
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National product real growth rate:
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National product per capita:
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
$43.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89/90)
$217 million (f.o.b., 1992)
olives, fruit, vegetables
$867 million (c.i.f., 1992)
food, consumer goods, construction materials
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