West Bank Minimum Expenditure Basket report - West Bank Cash Working Group, March 2023

Introduction

This report outlines the process, methodology, and results of the construction of a Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem.

A Minimum Expenditure Basket identifies and quantifies “basic needs items and services that can be monetized and are accessible in adequate quality through local markets and services. Items and services included in an MEB are those that households in a given context are likely to prioritize, on a regular or seasonal basis. An MEB is inherently multisectoral and based on the average cost of the items composing the basket”.1 The West Bank Cash Working Group (WB CWG) prioritized the need to develop a MEB in its 2022 WorkPlan, and a dedicated task team (MEB TT) was created in July 2022 for the purpose. The TT has considered and analysed a number of datasets and information, including data from Focus Group discussions (FGDs) conducted with targeted communities, to make the calculation. The final MEB, endorsed by the CWG in February 2023 stands at 2,061.55 NIS, for an average household (HH) of five. The transfer value for regular programming is calculated as 60% of the MEB at 1,240 NIS and the transfer value for emergencies is set at 80% of the MEB at 1,640 NIS. The SMEB, used only for vulnerability targeting, is set at 1,658.76 NIS.

The MEB TT has agreed on a yearly review to be conducted in early 2024 on the basis of price monitoring updates and humanitarian agencies experience in using the basket and the transfer values. The MEB TT will monitor the MEB throughout the year, considering however that prices at West Bank level have not witnessed any major fluctuation since monitoring has started in coordination in collaboration with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).