Book Detail
Author: Mahmoud EL Jafari,Naser AL Ardah, Misyef Misyef
Publisher: PECDAR
Date: 01/01/2000
Price: $ 0.00
Introduction
 Wide variations and discrepancies in Palestinian trade statistics create challenges for policy and decision-makers. The shortcomings of Palestinian trade statistics heighten uncertainty about current economic circumstances and could negatively affect the ability of policy makers to formulate appropriate trade reform and restructuring policies to narrow the growing trade deficit. Since 1995, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and relevant institutions in the trade partner countries of Israel, Jordan and Egypt have published Palestinian merchandise trade statistics. There are considerable differences in the output of these various sources and as a result, existing statistical trade data tends to be inconsistent and contradictory. The lack of Palestinian control over borders has made it difficult for Palestinians to compile accurate and reliable information on which decisions regarding economic planning can be based.
The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy and reliability of Palestinian trade statistics published by various national, regional and international sources. The study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the current methodologies and mechanisms used by related Palestinian and foreign agencies in this field and makes recommendations to improve existing methodology in compiling trade statistics. Furthermore, this study has developed an estimation procedure to re-estimate Palestinian foreign trade statistics with the main trade partners Israel, Jordan and Egypt. The conclusion intends to provide policy makers and Palestinian negotiators with information and analysis on a number of areas, including trade options, assessment of macroeconomic conditions and the implications of economic policies on internal and external trade.
Variations and discrepancies in trade statistics are not confined to Palestine and may also be found in many developing and developed countries. However, discrepancies in Palestinian trade statistics are higher than in other countries. As a result, the Trade Research Unit (TRU) at MAS has utilized an econometric model to evaluate the quality of Palestinian trade statistics since 1995. Unconditional forecasting methods are applied to estimate Palestinian merchandise exports and imports with Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
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