The number is in for the 2019 state budget: NIS 479,427,411,000. This is per the official draft budget that the Ministry of Finance distributed to government ministers this morning. The draft was distributed this morning in order to allow ministers time to prepare for the government meeting to approve the budget that will start on Thursday afternoon and will probably not conclude until Friday morning.
<p>A main point of the budget is a NIS 100 billion increase in comparison with 2018 in the amount for debt servicing.
<p>Because of this increase, the Ministry of Finance has again had to put back by a year the planned multi-year decline in the fiscal deficit. The deficit target for 2019 is 2.9% of GDP, instead of 2.5%. The target for 2020 will be 2.5% instead of 2.25%, and so on.
<p>The ministry with the highest budget for 2019 is the Ministry of Education, with NIS 57 billion, followed by the Ministry of Defense, with NIS 55 billion. Interest payments on government debt will amount to NIS 39 billion, and NIS 36 billion will go to the Ministry of Health.
<p><i>Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - <a href=http://www.globes-online.com>www.globes-online.com</a> - on January 8, 2018</i>
<p><i>© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018</i>