Knesset Finance Committee chairman MK Avishay Braverman (Labor) has said that he will not convene the committee to approve the Ministry of Finance's economic stimulus and finance plans, unless it includes a safety net for pensions.
The Ministry of Finance today asked Braverman to approve its economic plan. However, Braverman placed conditions on approving the plan. He said he would only convene the committee, "if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will approve a safety net for provident and pension funds, and after the committee members a concrete and clear plan before them."
He stressed that the plan in its present form would not be approved. "If they want to solve the crisis for 2009, it is up to the Ministry of Finance to change two disks: to enlarge the budget and stop seeing the Bachar Commission as sacred."
The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at the end of the week to discuss the plan. It is expected that pressure from the Finance Committee will force the Ministry of Finance to make changes to its plan.
Braverman criticized the Ministry of Finance's work methods and that MKs have yet to see the full details of the plan, and only learned about it from the media. "This way of working so that parts of the plan are given to the press in a disorganized fashion is not professional and makes it difficult to have an effective discussion on solving the economic crisis," he said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 25, 2008
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