Joint Study: Palestinian investments abroad exceed foreign investments here

 A joint study by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) published on Monday has revealed that the Palestinian economy’s investment outside Palestine outweighs investment in Palestine from abroad by the end of fourth quarter of 2015.

A press release said the primary results of the International Investment Position (IIP) — external assets – foreign liabilities — for the Palestinian Territory by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 revealed that the net IIP had amounted to about $899  million, which means that the Palestinian economy of its various sectors had invested outside Palestinian territory by more than the investment amount in the Palestinian territory from abroad.

The Resident cash deposits in foreign banks and foreign exchange in the Palestinian economy accounted for the bulk of the external assets, constituting 65.2% of their total value, said PCBS.

The total stocks of External Assets for Palestine amounted to $5,855 million, the foreign direct investment abroad had contributed to 6.0%, portfolio investments abroad reached 18.5%, while other foreign investments abroad (mainly currency and deposits) reached 65.5% and reserve assets amounted to 9.9%, stated the release.

At sector level, the external investments of banking represented a large share of the external assets, standing at 74.4% of the total value of external assets.

The statistics bureau said that the total stocks of Foreign Liabilities in Palestine (Stocks of non- residents invested in Palestine) had amounted to $4,956 million, the foreign direct investment in Palestine contributed 50.1%, portfolio investments in Palestine reached 16.6% and other investments in Palestine (mainly loans and deposits from abroad) amounted to 33.3%.

According to sectoral level, the foreign investments in banking sector contributed a major value in the foreign liabilities, represented by 35.5% of the total value of foreign liabilities.

PCBS added that the gross external debt on different sectors of the Palestinian economy reached $1,649 million, the debt on government sector represented 64.9%, while debt on banks sector reached 32.1%, and debt on other sectors (financial non-financial enterprises, NGOs and household sectors) amounted to 3.0%.

The IIP is defined as an accounting sheet records the investments stocks for the residents in the Palestinian Territory (individuals, institutions and government) that is invested in the rest of the world (abroad) under the name of assets, on the one hand, and the investments stocks owned by residents outside Palestinian Territory (individuals, institutions and governments) that is invested in the Palestinian Territory under the name of liabilities, on the other hand.