Palestinian Authority, battling debt crisis, raises taxes

The Palestinian Authority has approuved a plan to rise income tax to 20% in order to tackle its debt problem. The Palestinian Authority depends heavily on foreign aid by the United States, the European Union and other Arab states to pay the salaries of their public sector workers. In response to President Mahmoud Abbas quest for statehood recognition at the United Nations, the United States has frozen more than $150 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority this year. Of the $1.1 billion in aid that was expected, only $750 million was received by the PA says Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia

Click here for the full story