Preliminary Review of Palestine's Government Revenues and Expenditures in 2018 — Part Three

Part Three

·    Transfer expenditures and details of public revenues..
From our follow-up of the government's actual financial data in 2018 and comparing it with the budget figures for the same year, and after I presented some details in Part One and Part Two published on my page previously (10-2-2019 and 12-2-2019), I set out here, briefly, the financial data on the transfer expenditures that the government disbursed in 2018 amounting to 4,016 million shekels (four billion and sixteen million shekels). I reviewed Table No. (8 B) – Transfer Financial Operations (cash basis) at the end of 2018, on the Ministry of Finance and Planning’s website, and their details and spending purposes were as follows (to note the nature of the government’s transfer expenditures):

-        Social assistance benefits amounting to 1,441 million shekels (one billion four hundred and forty-one million shekels), including social assistance of 702 million shekels, assistance to poor families of 605 million shekels, unemployment allowances of 133 million shekels.., and social security benefits (civil pensions and military pensions) amounting to 2,004 million shekels (two billion and four million shekels). Aid to prisoners and detainees amounting to 407 million shekels, payments to non-governmental organizations, civil society and universities amounting to 77 million shekels, compensation for damages and emergency expenses amounting to 59 million shekels, support to local government amounting to 6 million shekels, other transfers amounting to 15 million shekels, assistance to released prisoners amounting to 2 million shekels, and scholarships and grants amounting to 1 million shekel.!!

-        As for details of public revenues for 2018, I reviewed Table No. (4) concerning revenue details by source (cash basis) at the end of 2018 - amounting to 12,407 million shekels, while the revenue amount in the 2018 budget was 13,691 million shekels. Public revenues as reported in Table No. (4) consist of:

·       Net tax revenues amounting to 10,862 million shekels, with an actual-to-budget realization rate of 79%. The net total of taxes consists of:

·        "Local taxes" revenues amounting to 2,997 million shekels (of which income tax amounted to 848 million shekels, value added tax amounted to 1,198 million shekels, customs amounted to 697 million shekels, cigarette excise amounted to 235 million shekels, property tax amounted to 13 million shekels....).
- "Clearance" revenues amounting to 8,091 million shekels (eight billion and ninety-one million shekels) of which were (customs amounting to 3,472 million shekels, value added tax amounting to 2,003 million shekels, fuel tax amounting to 2,481 million shekels....). - "Tax refunds" (-) which amounted to 500 million shekels, (of which 363 million shekels were fuel, and 137 million shekels were other).

·       Designated payments – taxes - which amounted to 274 million shekels (these are taxes and revenues due to local government bodies: 90% of property tax and 50% of transport and communications tax)...
- Non-tax revenues amounted to 1,545 million shekels, (mostly from non-tax local fees).

·       Note 1: The exchange rate of the dollar as of 31-12-2018 was 3.7628 shekels per dollar.

·       Note 2: Regarding domestic debts, I clarify here – since I inadvertently omitted this clarification in the publication on domestic debts – that there is a loan from the "Dar al-Aytam Institution" and a loan from the "Palestinian Alimony Fund" in favor of the "Palestinian Petroleum Authority", which was at the end of 2017 in the amount of 247 million dollars, and became at the end of 2018 in the amount of 238 million dollars.

·       Date: 13-2-2019