Believe it or not, the most sought-after commodity in recent weeks, as in every month of Ramadan, in the Gaza Strip is "small money", ie coins of 5, 2 and 1 shekels.
According to market sources in Gaza, this shortage constitutes a real injury to the movement of shoppers since the store owners cannot return a surplus and therefore shoppers prefer not to buy from them.
To resolve this crisis, the "Palestinian Monetary Authority" (a kind of central bank of the PA in Ramallah) announced yesterday that it had completed preparations for the introduction of NIS 160 million into the Gaza Strip, most of them in small currencies. It was not stated when and how this considerable amount will be entered and whether this amount will replace a similar amount in banknotes.
In the Gaza Strip, it is claimed that the shortage of shekels is artificial and created by the owners of the chains and large stores in the Gaza Strip who simply "hoard" the small shekels before Ramadan so that consumers will come to them and not to the small traders.
Tell this to your local BDS chapter!