Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat has scored a notable win at the start of her term: her ministry will have a budget of NIS 67 million in 2009. This means that, despite the cutbacks and recession, the Ministry of Culture and Sports will enjoy a budget supplement of NIS 20 million, 42% more than its budget in 2008.
The 2009 budget is the Ministry of Culture and Sports' highest budget in five years, and it reached a deal with the Ministry of Finance to keep the budget at this level in 2010 as well. The Sports Administration will be responsible for budget and resource allocations.
Livnat said, "It is very important to increase Israel's sports budget."
In addition to the budget success, Livnat was also able to cancel a Ministry of Finance proposal to levy taxes on betting winnings, which jeopardized the revenue of the Israel Sports Betting Board, which uses betting proceeds to support sports and athletics.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 13, 2009
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