The government's long-term liabilities reached NIS 1.28 trillion at the end of 2007, while its assets totaled NIS 319 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance Accountant General's financial report, published today.
The report adds that the 2007 cgross budget totaled NIS 325 billion, and budget usage was 96%. The report was sent to State Comptroller and Ombudsman Micha Lindenstrauss and will be sent to Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik shortly.
The report states that the government owns NIS 47.7 billion in current assets, NIS 150.3 billion in fixed assets, NIS 47.3 billion in long-term loans, and NIS 62.5 billion in investments in government and other companies. The report does not provide information about many assets, such as infrastructures and state land owned and managed by the Israel Land Administration (ILA). On the other hand, for the first time, the report includes the National Insurance Institute, intercity roads infrastructures, and some defense establishment assets, including assets of the IDF.
On the liabilities side, the report states that these rose to an all-time high of NIS 1.28 trillion, amounting to NIS 17,819 per capita. The liabilities include NIS 11.5 billion in current liabilities and NIS 444.3 billion in long-term loans.
As for the budget, the biggest ministries with the biggest budgets had the highest budget usage, such as the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health. Several ministries had a very low usage rate. The Ministry of Defense used NIS 55.85 billion of its NIS 59.98 billion budget, a rate of 93%; the Ministry of Education used NIS 31.7 billion in its NIS 33.85 billion budget, a rate of 94%; and the Ministry of Health used NIS 17.18 billion in its NIS 17.69 billion budget, a rate of 97%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 9, 2008
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