The donor-starved Palestinian Authority may cease to function if government employees continue to go without salaries for much longer, the World Bank warned in a new report released yesterday. Civil servants will simply down tools and discipline in the ranks of the security services could well collapse if pay checks, which have not arrived for the last two months, are not forthcoming, the Washington-based body said.| Will anyone notice? |
Although Muslim countries have pledged tens of millions in a bid to plug the gap, the funds have yet to be transferred with banks wary of falling foul of international laws that prohibit the financing of terrorist organizations. A previous report by the World Bank last month had warned that the Palestinian economy would experience a dramatic decline with incomes decreasing by 30 percent and unemployment doubling by the end of the year. But even those dire projections "now appear too rosy," the new survey said.