According to the Ministry of Finance’s 2022 actual spending report, the actual expenditures of the Ministry of Social Development ) including the Palestinian Martyrs’ Fund) was ILS 1,005.3 million of a total ILS 16,197.6 million of the overall actual expenditures in the 2022 general budget, or 6.2%.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s 2021 annual actual spending report, the actual spending for senior positions at the Ministry of Social Development (including the Palestinian Martyrs’ Fund) was ILS 931.0 million of a total ILS 16,120.3 million of the overall total actual expenditures in the 2021 general budget, or 8%.
First: : Annual actual spending at the Ministry of Social Development in 2022 was higher than the actual spending in 2021 by an increase of 8% and an amount of ILS74.29 million.
Second: The percentage of actual spending on the Ministry of Social Development in 2022 was 6.2% of the overall public expenditures in Palestine, as compared to 5.8% in
2021. In spite of the improvement in the Ministry’s actual spending from the overall public expenditures in 2022, it is still below the actual spending percentages in years prior to 2021
Third: The main item in the Ministry of Social Development’s budget is transfer expenditures, which includes cash assistance. The actual spending on this item was ILS920.75 million in 2022, compared to ILS848.81 million in 2021, with a slight increase of 8.5% from 2021.
Fourth: The actual spending on the item of salaries and wages and operational expenditures in 2022 was higher than in 2021, but only slightly.
Fifth: The Ministry’s development expenditures remained low, ILS7.60 million in 2022 and also in 2021. These limited development expenditures are not compatible with the Ministry of Social Affairs’ shift to Social Development, which requires developmental programs to improve the services offered to targeted sectors (women, children, the elderly, special needs).
Result: It is clear from the analysis of the 2021-2022 comparative actual spending that actual spending on the Ministry of Social Development was higher in 2022 than in 2021. Nonetheless, spending was still less than in the years prior to 2021, especially with the CTP payment cuts to poor families. This has affected the financial and social security of these families, which suffer from considerable marginalization in Palestinian society, 76% of which are concentrated in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the wide scope of the Ministry of Social Development’s work and its responsibility for the social protection program in Palestine, especially for vulnerable and marginalized sectors (women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities) requires higher budgets and increased actual expenditures