Lapid: The picture is much worse than I supposed

"The picture that is gradually unfolding before me is much worse than I supposed. Forget words like "deficit" or "fiscal crisis", I'll explain it much more simply: I came to renovate the house, but discovered that we have an overdraft on our bank account. What sort of overdraft? A monster, ominous, and growing bigger," newly appointed Minister of Finance Yair Lapid wrote last night in his weekly newsletter to Yesh Atid supporters.

How did it happen? "Like any overdraft: They wasted a lot money they didn't have, money they thought would come in didn't come in, they took on commitments they shouldn't have taken on. It turns out, once more, that Israelis know what they're talking about. For years people have been trying to tell them that their situation is good, and all the time they say that it's not true and it can't be right. It's bad for them, it's bad for everyone they know, they earn a decent salary but can't make ends meet, they don't stand a chance of buying home.

"The time has come to deal with the overdraft. That is what I am going to do, to tackle it with full power. We'll work hard, we'll cut back, we'll reduce spending, we'll cut even where it hurts. It will be difficult, it will be tough, but there's an advantage to it too: if we do it now, it won't take long. My first year at the Ministry of Finance will deal with reducing the overdraft. I'd prefer to deal with happier things, but I belive that my task is to go precisely where it's hard."

Lapid criticizes the previous government, particularly his predecessor as finance minister Yuval Steinitz: "The problem arose because instead of running the economy responsibly they took huge loans and had a party. I don't intend to repeat that mistake."

On the first cabinet meeting, Lapid writes, "When I sat at the long wooden table I felt for the first time what we couldn't guess at during the exhausting negotiations: this is a good government. It has the right combination of young people and veterans, of the hungry and the experienced, desire for success and caution. This is also a government in which no-one casts doubt on the authority of the prime minister (something rare in comparison with previous governments), such that everyone will be glad if it keeps going for four years."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 24, 2013

Lapid: The picture is much worse than I supposed

The incoming finance wrote to supporters: Instead of running the economy responsibly they took huge loans and had a party.