Palestine Monetary Authority Organizes Workshop for Journalists on Its Tasks and Role and Retrieval of Data from its Website
Ramallah - December 19, 2019
His Excellency the Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority, Mr. Azzam Shawwa, opened a training workshop organized by Palestine Monetary Authority today at its headquarters in Ramallah in cooperation with the Journalists Syndicate, for a group of journalists working in the field of economic journalism. The aim of the training is to introduce Palestine Monetary Authority, its tasks and role and how to retrieve data from its website (www.pma.ps). This is one of the achievements of cooperation between the two parties in the light of the recent memorandum of understanding they had signed.
Mr. Shawwa stressed the importance of developing the capabilities and skills of journalists in general and those working in economic journalism in particular, enabling them to convey the media message professionally, responsibly and able to deal with data and statistics, analyze, interpret and present them to the public in an understandable and objective way. This reflects positively on the promotion of financial stability and inclusion.
Mr. Shawwa explained that the banking system in Palestine was stable and sound, and that the financial indicators reflected its development and its contributions to economic development. Mr. Shawwa also pointed out that the direct facilities of all banks amounted to $8.9 billion, customer deposits amounted to more than $13 billion, and the number of branches and offices reached 368 in the various governorates of the homeland.
A number of directors of Palestine Monetary Authority made presentations in the workshop, including Mrs. Irene Saadeh, the Director of Public Relations and Communication, who provided a definition and a general review of the website of Palestine Monetary Authority and its contents. Mr. Mohammed Atallah, Director of Research and Monetary Policy Department, provided general introduction of Palestine Monetary Authority, its functions and the sectors it oversees, as well as how to retrieve data and figures from Palestine Monetary Authority's website and how to link the data and figures, and review the statistics, publications of Palestine Monetary Authority.
Mr. Riyad Awwad, Director of the Payments Systems Department, also spoke about how to obtain data on payments posted on the website. Mr. Mohammad Manasrah, Director of Supervision and Inspection Department addressed the instructions issued by the Supervision and Inspection Department to banks, lending institutions and money changers posted on the website. Mr. Manasrah stated that the instructions contributed to the protection of the banking sector and the rights of citizens.
Mr. Nidal Melhem, head of the Awareness and Complaints Processing Section at the Market Conduct Department, addressed the instructions issued by Palestine Monetary Authority posted on the website with the aim of controlling the banking market and protecting the rights of consumers of banking services. At the end of the workshop, there was a brainstorming and discussion between the participating journalists and the lecturers.
It is worth mentioning that Palestine Monetary Authority has undertaken qualitative initiatives in promoting and developing economic media by organizing specialized workshops for journalists, producing 16 videos of Banking Program that was broadcast on social media, and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Journalists Syndicate for economic media development.
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