The year 2025 marked the end of the timeframe of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in Palestine. Since the launch and adoption of the strategy in 2018, diligent efforts have continued to implement the programs and activities associated with it, and numerous achievements were realized despite the difficult and exceptional circumstances that accompanied the various stages of implementation.
Undoubtedly, the grave events that Palestine has experienced and continues to face, whether the difficult economic situation or the repercussions of the genocidal war against the Palestinian people, have imposed additional challenges on financial inclusion in Palestine. This required the PCMA and the Palestine Monetary Authority to continue their efforts. In this context, during the fourth quarter of 2025, the Council of Ministers issued a decision extending the timeframe of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for an additional three years, ending at the close of 2028. In addition, the Council of Ministers issued a decision to reconstitute the National Financial Inclusion Committee in Palestine, in response to the recommendations submitted by the National Financial Inclusion Committee following the decisions taken during its tenth meeting, which was held in August 2025.
The Council of Ministers also issued directives for the National Financial Inclusion Committee to prepare and approve an implementation action plan covering the years 2026 to 2028, focusing on strengthening financial inclusion, while taking into account all economic, financial, technological, and political developments and challenges that have emerged since the adoption of the original strategy on 12/09/2018.
In this context, the Technical Committee worked on preparing and developing the proposed implementation plan based on a set of criteria and inputs, summarized as follows:
First. Building on the policy interventions adopted in 2023 by the National Financial Inclusion Committee as a result of the comprehensive reassessment of financial inclusion at that time, which included the following:
To this end, the work of the specialized technical working groups was reactivated. These groups contributed effectively to developing the Financial Inclusion Action Plan for 2026 to 2028, based on the determinants mentioned above. The action plan is expected to be approved by the National Financial Inclusion Committee during the first quarter of 2026. It is worth noting that the specialized working groups consist of three groups focusing on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovative financial products, and consumer empowerment. Their membership includes more than seventy institutions representing all segments of Palestinian society.
In a related context, during the fourth quarter of 2025, the National Strategy for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises was approved by the Council of Ministers. This strategy is one of the main outputs of the Financial Inclusion Action Plan and was one of the most prominent programs included in the previous financial inclusion plan. As a result, agreement was reached with the Ministry of National Economy to adopt the Financial Inclusion subcommittee concerned with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as the committee responsible for preparing the implementation plan for the MSMEs Strategy, since it includes all relevant entities in its membership, without the need to form additional committees, in order to avoid duplication and fragmentation of efforts. It was also agreed that the Ministry of National Economy would chair this group.
