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26 month CD
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Jordanian banks are returning to the territories
and self-rule areas.
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$500 minimum deposit • Interest compounded quarterly.
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Oakland
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B
efore 1967, several Jor-
danian banks did business
in the territories and East
Jerusalem. After the Six
Day War, when Israel took over,
they had to close.
Now, after Israel's agreements
with the Palestinians and Jorda-
nians, Jordan's banks are begin-
ning to re-open .their doors in the
territories and self-rule areas of
Gaza and Jericho.
The Bank of Jordan, the sec-
ond-largest Jordanian commer-
cial bank, has been doing
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WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
business in Ramallah and Nablus
for the last two months. The two
branches together claim 12,000
new accounts.
"There is a great demand for
good, reliable commercial banks,"
says Yahiya Kadamani, the
bank's representative in the ter-
ritories.
The Nablus and Ramallah
branches, which seem more mod-
em and spacious than most Is-
raeli banks, are completely
computerized. Each employs
around 50 locals.
During the first two weeks, the
bank witnessed a sudden influx
of capital, according to manager
Bassem Najjar.
"Nablus is the commercial cen-
ter of the West Bank," he says.
"Over the past six years, the Cairo
Amman Bank was the only Arab
bank to operate in the territories;
the services it offered were limit-
ed.
"We offer all the services of a
commercial bank. Soon more Jor-
danian banks will open, and peo-
ple will be able to choose the bank
that suits their needs."
The biggest Jordanian bank is
the Arab Bank, run by the Pales-
tinian Shuman family. It is also
fri
planning to re-open in the terri-
tories and in Jerusalem, where it
did business before 1967. So is
Grindlays Bank, another corn-
mercial bank that had branches
in the territories before 1967.
According to an agreement
signed last December between the
Bank of Israel and the Jordanian
Central Bank, Jordanian banks
can do business in the territories
and are allowed to handle shekels
under the supervision of the Bank
of Israel.
To do business in the au-
tonomous areas, the
banks need the approval
of the Palestinian Au-
thority, Mr. Kadamani
says, adding that he has
applied to the authority
for a license to operate the
Bank of Jordan in Gaza
and Jericho, too.
The authority has al-
ready licensed Mr.
Kadamani and his group
to open an Islamic bank
in Gaza.
The Bank of Israel re-
fused to approve the Is-
lamic bank in the
territories handling
shekels because it doesn't
consider it a commercial
bank, Mr. Kadamani
says. The agreement be-
tween Israel and Jordan
deals only with commer-
cial banking.
Since Islam forbids charging
interest, that's how the Islamic
bank will operate, Mr. Kadamani
says.
"For example, say someone
needs a loan to build a factory. In-
stead of giving him the loan and
charging him 10 to 15 percent in-
terest, we build the factory for
him and sell it to him in pay-
ments, for a price which includes
the bank's interest charge," Mr.
Kadamani says.
According to Palestinian
sources, the Palestinian Author-
ity has opened some of its ac-
counts at the Bank of Jordan in
the territories.
Also using the bank is the
Palestinian Economic Council for
Reconstruction and Development
(PECDAR), created to channel
money from donor states for spe-
cific projects and cover the au-
thority's running costs.
Amin Haddad heads PEC-
DAR's department of aid coordi-
nation and is director of economic
affairs in the Palestinian Au-
thority. He says the Palestinians
haven't given up on the idea of a
Palestinian central bank or mon-
etary authority.
C,
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