RAMALLAH _ Palestine News Network
The Monetary Authority issued on Tuesday the results of the expanded PMA Index for November 2018, which showed the growth of the index in the West Bank, along with its decline in the Gaza Strip, Relative to the value of the overall index at about -5.9 points, slightly higher than the level in the corresponding month of last year of about -10.0 points.
In the West Bank, the rise in the index of trade (from -2.3 to 0.1 points), alongside the improvement in the index of the industry (from 1.0 to 1.4 points) to raise the value of the overall index of the West Bank from 3.8 points last month to about 5.3 in November Present. On the contrary, indicators of the rest of the economic activities were tested, with the transport and storage index dropping from 0.9 to 0.2 points, and the agriculture index from 3.6 to 3.1 points. The indicators of renewable energy, communications and IT, Very slight declines.
This improvement in the West Bank index is mainly due to the increased level of sales during the current month, which in turn led to a decline in inventories, according to the owners of the various economic establishments surveyed. At the same time, however, they were less optimistic about the expected production volume over the next three months.
On the other hand, the Gaza Strip index returned after two consecutive months of slow improvement, falling to -32.3 points in November compared to -28.7 in the previous month following a general decline in most sectors except for the limited improvement in the activity of the industry (from -6.1 to -4.9 points).
The biggest decline was recorded in agriculture activity (from -2.0 to -4.4 points), followed by a decline in the trade index (from -18.4 to -19.7 points). The other declines were limited by less than 0.5 points. Construction, transport and storage, communications and information technology indicators recorded -1.7 points, -1.4 points and -0.2 points respectively. For its part, the renewable energy index maintained its previous value (0.0 points).
Since the beginning of the preparation of the expanded business cycle index (about two years ago), the Gaza Strip index has consistently recorded negative values, reflecting the continuation of the deteriorating political and economic conditions in the sector for years. These include continued siege and closure, slow reconstruction, weak demand and more.
The levels of production and sales fell, according to the owners of economic establishments in Gaza. As for the outlook, the level of pessimism around the near future remains high for the next three months.
The PMA Index is a monthly indicator that monitors fluctuations in Palestinian economic activity in terms of levels of production, sales and employment. The maximum value of the index is 100 points, while the minimum value is minus 100 points. The positive value indicates that the economic conditions are good, while the negative values ​​indicate that the economic conditions are bad, and the approach of the value from zero indicates that the situation is the same and that it is not going to change in the near future.
