Japan has Thursday announced committing around $30 million to budget support through the World Bank for the Palestinian Recovery and Development Plan Multi-Donor Trust Fund (PRDP-MDTF) to support the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s "devastated" financial situation.
According to a press release issued by the Representative Office of Japan to the PA, "This contribution comes in a time where any kind of budget support is needed to help in stimulating the Palestinian economy and to offset the PA deep financial problems."
The contribution is part of the recent additional support from the Japanese government to the Palestinian people, which was announced by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to Palestine in January 2015, which amounts to $100 million, according to the Palestinian Info and News Agency (WAFA).
This is the third contribution following 2014’s $30 million to the PRDP Trust fund, which is a part of international support to alleviate PA’s financial difficulties, said the Representative’s office.
The World Bank PRDP Trust Fund was established on April 10, 2008, through an agreement signed between the World Bank and the Palestinian Authority.
The Fund is central in supporting the Palestinian reform and development plan and it supports strengthening the PA’s capacity to sustain a number of significant reforms introduced to date and to bolster further progress.
Japan has been supporting financially and technically the economic development efforts exerted by key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood in line with the PA's national development plans.
It has also provided assistance through UNRWA and other United Nations agencies including humanitarian assistance, as well as to local NGOs and local councils for their grassroots development projects, WAFA reported.