In his remarks closing the Caesarea Forum on National Economic Policy in Eilat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that what was needed first and foremost was reforms, because they would raise the Israeli economy's competitiveness.
The prime minister said that the greatest economic effort an Israeli family made was to buy a home. "In Israel, that's a very very difficult step. We are 120th in the world for the time it takes to buy a home. It's hard to renovate as well try building a balcony. We must simplify the building process, make homes cheaper to buy, and enable people to afford homes without mortgaging their lives," Netanyahu said.
"We are doing three great things to this end, aimed at the average Israeli, things that will help to close the gaps. The first is the historic reform of the Israel Lands Authority. 800,000 Israelis who lease homes from the Authority will become homeowners. The second thing is reform of the planning and building committees to simplify the bureaucracy which today is simply intolerable, it's hell. The third thing is construction of a network of roads and railways from the Negev to the Galil, which will bring about immediate movement in economic activity. These are very strong growth engines. We have been waiting for these things for many many years."
Netanyahu added, "We must streamline and as far as possible reduce the public sector. This won't happen in one or two years. We are talking about looking further ahead so that we can compete in expenditure and taxation with the global system. Our defense spending will continue to be a main factor in our national budget. Despite what I said about cutting back, the ability to cover our defense expenditure will come only through growth. In the immediate term we have had to stabilize the economy, and we have done that through the budget. If we had not drafted a two-year budget, next month we would be starting again down that Via Dolorosa."
On the Bank of Israel Law, Netanyahu said, "We are about to legislate the Bank of Israel Law. Four years ago, Stanley Fischer told me, 'I'll come to be Governor of the Bank of Israel, but you must see to the passage of the Bank of Israel Law.' It may be that we will bring about a reduction in the built-in friction between the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance after the law passes."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 2, 2009
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