Treasury chief: Budget deficit was no surprise

Doron Cohen tells "Globes": In July, we said that the deficit would be more than 4% of GDP.

The 2012 budget deficit, which was double the target, was no surprise Ministry of Finance director general Doron Cohen told "Globes" editor-in-chief Hagai Golan on the Globes TV "Face to Face" program today. He added that deputy budget director Eyal Epstein was not really forced out of his job.

Cohen dismissed criticism of the Ministry of Finance's Budget Department. Commenting on the 2012 budget, he said, "Journalists were not surprised either. We publish deficit figures every month, and the deficit reached this level in November, and even earlier. In July, we said that the deficit would be more than 4% of GDP, which is why the government passed the NIS 14 billion fiscal package. In January 2012, when I was doing reserve duty in the IDF, one of the first things I did was to update the growth and tax revenues forecasts for 2012."

As for the 2013-14 budget, Cohen mentioned the war against black capital and the closing of loopholes in tax planning and expanding the tax base, which he said would reduce inequality and boost revenues.

Cohen said, "We will submit amendments in all kinds of tax areas - land taxes, the companies tax, financing, foreign taxes. There are two objectives here: reduce the options for tax evasion, and to help do business where it should be."

"Globes": I wish to bring you back to the budget hole. Did someone at the Budget Department screw up?

Doron: "I don’t want to get into that. I know what you're talking about, or what period you're talking about. I want to make one thing clear: all the attempts to say that the deficit was a surprise have no basis."

So deputy budget director Eyal Epstein simply went home?

"First, Epstein did not go home. Second, it's irrelevant. You should put things in proportion. Eyal Epstein is a very talented guy, and I am pleased that a settlement was ultimately reached for him to continue assisting with the budget. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Finance is not built on one man, and Eyal Epstein certainly isn't to blame for the deficit."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 7, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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