Economic Monitor No.45, September 2016

In the previous issue of the Quarterly Economic Monitor – No. 44, we pointed out that we have been working on developing this publication, particularly in terms of enhancing its analytical con tent, so as to better serve the needs of Palestinian policy-makers and researchers. We also mentioned that the three institutions in volved in the preparation of this publication have been thinking of ways to expand the existing partnership. In addition to the provi sion of data, it was envisaged that all partners will be more in volved in contributing analyses that are relevant to the economic situation and that they will share the responsibility for securing the means for sustaining this publication. Indeed, representatives of the three institutions met several times to discuss how to develop the Monitor and a representative of the Palestine Capital Market Authority (PCMA), which had expressed interest in joining the partnership with MAS, PMA and PCBS, was invited to attend. (PCMA has officially joined the partnership, effective the beginning of 2017). The discussions concentrated mostly on readers’ remarks and feedback that we have been able to gather, as well as on ideas presented by the Editor of the Monitor that aimed at improving form and content. Eventually, our three institutions agreed to modify the presentation and layout to make it more attractive, and to reduce the amount of text and to rely more on tables and graphics to convey the information. Also, it was decided to change the title from the “Economic and Social Monitor” to the “Economic Monitor” so as to give more promi nence to the main the area of emphasis of the publication. It is understood, of course, that this change in the title does not pre clude addressing social indicators occasionally, which tend to change more slowly than the economic indicators and are not ex pected to undergo significant changes over a quarter of a year. The most significant modification that was introduced in line with the expressed views of the partnering institutions was to gradually expand the analytical content of the Monitor. Thus the research departments at MAS, the PMA, and the PCMA will contribute analyses, whereas PCBS, as producer of the data, will not do so, in line with the requirements of scientific objectivity. We hope that the readers will like this issue, and we welcome any feedback to further develop the Monitor and make it more useful to users, within the scope of its objectives. It is our pleasure to use this opportunity to extend our gratitude to all parties that contrib uted funds that made sustaining this publication possible.