Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is building a $13m palace in the West Bank, despite the Palestinian Authority’s current financial crisis.

The 27,000 sq m complex - called the Presidential Guest Palace - will include accommodation quarters, an administrative building and two helipads.

Located in Surda, Ramallah, the palace will be financed by the Ministry of Economy, according to a statement from the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR), and will take two years to construct.

The construction of the palace follows the news last weekend that Mr Abbas resigned as chairman of the PLO and ongoing speculation that he could step down as president .

The Palestinian government’s financial situation has worsened over the past year and in March it adopted an emergency budget after donor countries failed to transfer $5.4 billion in aid that had been pledged in October, following the 2014 Israel-Gaza war.