, and
subsequently to an elected Palestinian Council, as part of interim
self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A
transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho
has taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement
on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. A transfer of powers and
responsibilities in certain spheres for the rest of the West Bank has
taken place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 29 August 1994 Agreement on
Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities. The DOP provides
that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period
for external security and for internal security and public order of
settlements and Israelis. Final status is to be determined through
direct negotiations within five years.

Names:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank

Digraph: WE

@West Bank:Economy

Overview: Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by
Israeli military administration and the effects of the Palestinian
uprising (intifadah). Industries using advanced technology or
requiring sizable investment have been discouraged by a lack of local
capital and restrictive Israeli policies. Capital investment consists
largely of residential housing, not productive assets that would
enable local Palestinian firms to compete with Israeli industry. GDP
has been substantially supplemented by remittances of workers employed
in Israel and Persian Gulf states. Such transfers from the Gulf
dropped after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In the wake of the
Persian Gulf crisis, many Palestinians have returned to the West Bank,
increasing unemployment, and export revenues have dropped because of
the decline of markets in Jordan and the Gulf states. Israeli measures
to curtail the intifadah also have added to unemployment and lowered
living standards. The area's economic situation has worsened since
Israel's partial closure of the territories in 1993.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1994
est.)

National product real growth rate: NA%

National product per capita: $2,800 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.8% (1993)

Unemployment rate: 35% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $43.4 million
expenditures: $43.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY89/90)

Exports: $217 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities: olives, fruit, vegeta