Steinitz sees NIS 14b budget increase

"If we can't maintain growth, we'll lose the campaign," the Finance Minister told the Israel Transport Conference.

14 June 12 13:49, Amiram Barkat

"Anyone with common sense knows that the next budget won't be easy. It will increase by NIS 14 billion in real terms, and we still won't get all that we want," said Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz at the Israel Transport Conference today.

"I have already set budget priorities. The basic principle is high growth and low unemployment. If we can't maintain growth, we'll lose the campaign. I'll make every effort to keep the improvement in education, because that is a national infrastructure. The second thing is improving transport, because that too is a national infrastructure. Both these measures encourage investment and growth. We'll continue to maintain budget macroeconomic responsibility and we'll ensure that the deficit is under control."

Steinitz disclosed that the cost of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed railway has already reached NIS 12 billion, more than double the original estimate published when work began.

Steinitz claimed, "We need to create 55,000 new jobs a year, just to stay at the same level of employment. Instead of 150,000 or 160,000 jobs, the Israeli economy created 310,000 new jobs, double the number necessary, at the height of the crisis. This was due to massive investment in the economy. We drew investment from all over the world. In 2009, when the crisis was at its height, investment in the economy fell by 6%. In 2010 and 2011, it jumped 35%. There is no other country in the world that approaches these numbers."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 14, 2012

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