Palestinian budget shortage doubled

The Palestinian Minister of Economics Maher El-Masri revealed yesterday that the Palestinian Authority's budget for this fiscal year exceeds double what had been voted on earlier this year.

In a statement to Al-Hayat daily newspaper, the Palestinian minister said that the expected shortage will rise from $52 million to $350 million for this year due to the closure imposed upon Palestinians by Israel last month.

He added that offsetting this shortage would normally be possible by raising direct and indirect taxes and depending on high customs rates, but not now because Palestinians couldn't pay higher rates due to the bad conditions they are in.

He expected that partial boycotts of Israeli commodities would bear fruit and help decrease Israeli goods yield in Gaza and West Bank.