Defence
costs bloat Israeli deficit
BBC News
April 22, 2002
The cost of invading
the Palestinian territories
have been huge
Israel is taking a hatchet to its budget to try to cope with the
swelling costs of the Palestinian uprising.
The Finance Ministry said on Monday that it is proposing cuts to
the 2002 budget of as much as 13bn shekels ($2.7bn; £1.9bn)
together, perhaps, with some tax hikes on cigarettes and petrol.
That could spell further trouble for Israel, whose economy is already
beset by the slowdown in the tech sector which saw growth plummet
from around 7% in 2000 to a 0.6% contraction in 2001.
The down turn has triggered a significant fall in tax receipts,
further exacerbating the problems.
More pressure on Israelis has come today from the Bank of Israel's
decision to raise interest rates by 0.2% to 4.6%.
Bursting
Even before the Israeli Defence Force began their incursion into
Palestinian-controlled areas in late March, the budget was straining
at the seams.
Earlier this month, as "Operation Defensive Wall" got
under way, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved a 2bn shekel expansion
to the defence budget.
Increased security spending as a result of the renewed Palestinian
uprising - which began in 2000 - has combined with Mr Sharon's need
to keep the rightwing religious parties in his government.
That meant boosting spending on large families, for example.
Now, though, some of that extra spending could have to go to make
up for the defence budget's growth.
It remains to be seen whether Mr Sharon will sanction such a move.
Among other proposals is a boost in VAT to 18% from 17%.
Deficit finance
In the meantime, Israel faces more troubles ahead.
Finance Minister Silvan Shalom said the government's original hopes
that the deficit on the 250bn shekel budget would stay below 3%
were unrealistic.
Instead, it is aiming for 3.5-3.9% of GDP - although many observers
think the actual figure is likely to be closer to be almost double
that.
With little or no growth expected this year, Israel's debt could
well face a downgrade, making it more expensive to borrow money.
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