On April 25^th, Dr. Jihad Al-Wazir, Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, visited An-Najah University where he participated in a seminar that was organized by the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in which he informed that the Authority is planning to launch the Palestinian Central Bank soon. Hundreds of students and faculty staff attended the seminar.

Prior to the seminar, Dr. Al-Wazir was received by the University President, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, at his office at the Old Campus. Prof. Hamdallah welcomed the Governor to the University and familiarized him with its various academic programs, its students and the many scientific centers that offer a wide scope of services to the local society. He also valued the efforts of the Palestine Monetary Authority in supporting and developing the Palestinian national economy.

Dr. Al-Wazir expressed his pleasure to visit An-Najah and valued its efforts in providing the Palestinian society with different kinds of services and its contribution to the development of the Palestinian economy. He also said the Authority is deeply interested in developing cooperation with An-Najah University in this regard. Other attendees included Dr. Nafeth Abu Baker, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, as well as Dr. Mahmoud Abu –Al-Rrub, instructor at the Faculty.

During the seminar which was held at the Martyr Zafer Al-Masri Auditorium Dr. Al-Wazir spoke about the role of the Palestine Monetary Authority in establishing the monetary policies in Palestine and keeping the stability of prices. He also spoke about the types of inflation and growth in central banks in general in addition to explaining some of the cases that many countries have experienced regarding the establishment of central banks.

Moreover, Dr. Al-Wazir spoke about the importance of establishing a central bank in Palestine and the issuing of a Palestinian currency and explained that the Monetary Authority has been working for three years on the establishment of such a bank.

He added that the Monetary Authority has already established four offices that work to establish the central bank and described the Governance System which the Authority has integrated into the banking system based on international standards.

He also spoke about the reformation of the Monetary Authority and the Palestinian Banking System and the integration of advanced equipments into this system. Furthermore, he described what the Authority is carrying out to try to build a credit database which would help banks in Palestine deal with the financial and loan issues in a much better way.

Finally, Dr. Al-Wazir said the independence of the anticipated Palestinian Central Bank means that this bank will be able to help issue a strong Palestinian currency.