(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The lack of progress in Palestinian-Israeli peace talks will hurt the former's growth rate in 2014, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday. The IMF anticipates a growth of 2.5% in Palestinian GDP in 2014, compared to 1.5% in 2013. It warned today that failure to conclude a peace agreement with Israeli will lead to political and security instability that could damage the economy further.
Mission Chief for the West Bank and Gaza Christoph Duenwald said in a statement today that "The economic outlook for 2014 and beyond depends heavily on the outcome of the peace talks." He revealed that the unemployment rate in Palestine was as high as 25% and the deficit worth 13.7% of Palestine's GDP. The latter figure is three points less than it was in 2012, thanks to the Palestinian Authority's policies
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al Hamdallah passed last Tuesday the budget of the 2014 fiscal year. The budget is worth $4.216 billion, with $1.279 billion in deficit.
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