World Bank to Invest $55 Million Grant in Gaza, West Bank

Bethlehem, 24 Ramadan 1437/30 June 2016 (MINA) – The World Bank has greenlit the transfer of $55 million to its trust fund supporting programs in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the international organization announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“In the context of the current fragile and challenging environment, the World Bank program remains committed to promoting Palestinian development, protecting the most vulnerable and supporting an environment that enables entrepreneurial upstarts — such interventions are key to creating the conditions for peace and stability,” World Bank Country Director for West Bank and Gaza Steen Lau Steen Lau Jorgensen was quoted as saying.

The World Bank statement added that its investments would be evenly divided between the besieged Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and would focus on “municipal development, energy, education, and job creation,” while supporting “reforms in public financial management.”

According to the World Bank, it has contributed a total of $1.025 billion in its Trust Fund for Gaza and the West Bank since its inception in 1993.

In February, the World Bank approved a $40 million grant to the Palestinian Authority (PA), the seventh installment of a larger $280 million grant, in order to ease the PA’s strained financial situation. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)