"It is already clear to us that the 2009 budget deficit will be very high. We planned a deficit of NIS 1 billion, but it will be double-digit and I hope that the first digit won't be larger than 2," Budget Director Ram Belnikov told the Sderot Conference for Society of the Sapir Academic College today. He added, "The meaning of the deficit is a higher debt-to-GDP ratio."
Commenting on the National Insurance Institute's 2007 Poverty Report, published yesterday, Belnikov said, "Poverty is relative. Absurdly, I feel that at the next year's conference or the one after that, Israel's poverty index will improve, even though the country's condition will worsen. The blow to expectations is greater among the wealthy than the poor."
Ministry of Social Affairs director general Nahum Itzkovich said, "Investment in roads and railways will be useless without investment in social services. The economic crisis will burden the welfare services. Almost 20% of the population will need welfare services. The economic crisis will rapidly increase the number of newly poor and the system can't provide a response to this population without a larger budget."
Itzkovich turned to fellow panelist Belnikov and said, "No one at the Ministry of Finance has asked Ministry of Social Affairs officials to examine the social impact of the economic crisis when they formulated the economic plan. I'm asking you here, please summon us. You summoned the National Insurance Institute, but not us."
Belnikov replied, "I don’t understand your request for a discussion about the distress of the social services. The telephone at the Budget Department is a two-way instrument. I favor dialogue, but it's reciprocal. If you fell that I am impolite or unaware of the problems of the social services during the crisis, you could call me and arrange a meeting."
In response to demands by the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and other parties to the economic stimulus package, Belnikov said, "I call on all professional and political bodies not to exploit the situation to improve their positions. The distress is general, and affects everyone. You mustn’t cause the decision-making bodies to lose control in this period and panic."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 25, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008