Posted on 12/10/2008 1:43:09 PM PST by forkinsocket
Israel authorised on Wednesday the transfer of 25 million dollars into Gaza to pay wages of civil servants amid warnings that the liquidity crisis could bring down the besieged territory's banks.
But the sum fell short of the 250 million shekels (63 million dollars, 49 million euros) that Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said were necessary to pay Palestinian Authority employees.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak authorised the transfer of 100 million shekels (25 million dollars) from banks in the occupied West Bank to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, his office said.
The transfer was to come following a "personal request" by Fayyad and Stanley Fischer, the head of Israel's central bank, "in view of the severe cash crisis in Gaza."
A Palestinian treasury official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the transfer has not yet been made but that it should take place on Thursday.
Palestinian economy minister Kamal Hassuneh said the amount was insufficient to pay the salaries of government employees.
"We need 70 to 75 million dollars for salaries. And we need to transfer this amount every month, not just one time," he told AFP.
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