Contributing to improving public finances in Palestine: A new project to support the Public Finance Institute

The Palestine Public Finance Institute was set up in 2011 with support from France with financing from the General Directorate of the Treasury from 2008 to 2016. It has been operational since 2014.

This project was launched on 19 February in PFI’s premises in Ramallah, where all the project partners gathered for the official start-up of activities and the approval of the work plan for the first half of 2019.  

Make the Public Finance Institute a reference at regional level

The teams of PFI and Expertise France gave a detailed presentation of the project, its methodology and the expected outcomes. Its objectives go further than the continuous training for civil servants from the Ministry of Finance and Planning: they aim to mobilise the private sector, establish partnerships with universities and make the Palestinian Institute a reference institution at both local and regional level.

This project will also aim to broaden PFI’s public beyond the Palestinian administration, in order to raise civil society’s awareness of issues related to public finance management.

Thanks to the approval of the work plan for the first half of 2019, the initial activities started immediately with the mobilisation of French expertise from the French General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFIP), alongside a technical team from the General Directorate for VAT and the General Directorate for Direct Taxes of the Palestinian Ministry of Public Finance. This has extended training provision for civil servants, in relation to the reform project.