Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The governor of the Monetary Authority, Azzam Shawa, pointed out to the possibility of raising the capital of top banks operating in Palestine to $100 million after the completion of raising capital to $75 million.

This came during Cabinet’s discussion on Tuesday of al- Shawa’s report on the policy of the PMA that aim at ensuring the safety of the banking sector, maintaining monetary stability and promoting economic growth.

Shawa confirmed that the issuance of a national currency at the moment is still not possible for different political and economic reasons, in addition to the political and economic conditions, the openness of the Palestinian market on the Israeli market and the large trade exchange between the two parties. All that requires wisdom and choosing the right time to take such a decision, which remains an important option, in order to preserve the rights of the Palestinian citizens and avoid any market disruptions.

On the high cost of banking services, Shawa said that this is due to our connection to the global banking sector, which means that the international banking transaction imposes a certain cost, given that dealing with the Palestinian banking sector imposes additional costs as the global banks consider correspondence with operating banks in Palestine requires additional risks.

He stressed that the capital adequacy in banks operating in Palestine go in line with international standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.