Palestine starts emergency budget

Ramallah, April 9 (IANS) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to start an emergency budget in the Palestinian territories amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, Abbas issued instructions to Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtaye to start taking the emergency budget measure, without specifying the total value, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ishtaye said the financial needs to combat the virus reached $120 million, noting that the budget’s deficiency will double and the national economic losses will be huge.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that two new cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in the West Bank, bringing the total number of infections to 263 in the Palestinian territories.

–IANS

ksk/