Capital Market

The deficit figures published by the Accountant General of the Ministry of Finance, Yahli Rotenberg, reveal that the budget deficit in relation to GDP in Israel is only 1.4% - the lowest since 2008, when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was still and Finance Minister Roni Brown was. In March, a total budget surplus of NIS 700 million was measured, making March the third month in a row that a budget surplus was measured - a situation that has not been remembered for years. The total budget surplus in the budget already reaches NIS 23.4 billion in the first quarter of the year. The huge decline in...

The average credit to a household in Israel in 2020, the first corona year, amounted to NIS 246.6 thousand, most of which was bank credit. This is an increase of only 2.3% compared to 2019, when the average credit amounted to NIS 240.7 thousand. At the same time, this is a much sharper increase of about 17% compared to 2016, when the average household credit amounted to NIS 219.1 thousand.

The report of the Adva Center, the center for social democratic policy, shows a surge in socio-economic disparities in the last two years: the education system does not provide solutions for the most vulnerable populations, the accessibility of the weaker sections to health is harmed and significant disparities in the housing market. On the occasion of just over two years since the Corona crisis, the Adva Center publishes its annual report, entitled "The Plague of Inequality Continues." "The corona plague has not yet passed from the world, even though it has been pushed to the margins of...

After the recovery from the corona crisis, which led to sharp growth in the Israeli economy, the data published indicate a contraction of 1.6% in GDP in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, in annual terms (ie, the result would be . The decline is in contrast to some of the preliminary estimates, which predicted a 2% increase in GDP in the first quarter. The decline in GDP may affect a series of policy decisions that are due to be made soon. The closest decision is that of the Bank of Israel's Monetary Committee next Monday regarding the interest rate in the...

The inter-ministerial pricing committee, jointly with the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Finance, recommended that the price of bread be permanently abolished. The issue of the removal of bread control was raised by the committee a year ago, but a hearing procedure and a final recommendation were now required - which has now been accepted. However, the required approvals have not yet been received from Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Orna Barbibai

The Monetary Committee of the Bank of Israel decided today (Monday) to raise the interest rate in the economy by 0.4 percentage points, so that the interest rate in the economy will now rise from 0.35% to 0.75%. This is the second rise in interest rates in the economy after a previous rise in April. The relatively sharp rise, contrary to the forecasts of most economists for an increase to 0.6%, signals the intention of the Bank of Israel to fight more resolutely to moderate the rate of inflation in Israel. The last time the interest rate reached 0.75% was in July 2014, about eight years ago

Economy Minister Orna Barbibai and Emirati Economy Minister Abdullah bin Tok al-Marie signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. The Ministry of Economy estimates that the volume of trade between the two countries, which now reaches almost $ 900 million a year, is expected to grow in the coming years to about $ 3 billion a year. The United Arab Emirates is the first Arab country with which Israel has signed a full free trade agreement. The free trade agreement was made possible after the normalization between the two countries under the Abrahamic Agreements in...

Ministry of Finance officials have already estimated that their work on the 2023 budget will probably be in vain, and this evening on Wednesday Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman confirmed the assessment and announced that budget discussions are frozen at this stage. This is after the coalition suffered another discrimination in the Knesset with the minimum wage law of the opposition, which passed a preliminary reading contrary to the government's position. Lieberman said after his decision: "This is not the right time to bring in a budget, until everything calms down and stabilizes."

A new estimate, the second this year, of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on the Israeli economy, indicates a worsening in the decline in the gross domestic product in the first quarter by 1.9%, compared to the estimate published last month, according to which growth in Israel was only 1.6%. It should be noted that the gross domestic product per capita recorded a more significant decrease of 3.5% due to the increase in the population. Hogg argues that two consecutive quarters of negative growth indicate the beginning of a recession, but at present, there is no data on the second...

Israel's economy is ranked 25th out of 63 countries defined as "developed", in the Competitiveness Index of the Swiss Research Institute IMD represented in Israel by the Association of Chambers of Commerce. , Only in 53rd place. The IMD Research Institute is one of the world's leading research institutes that examines once a year the degree of competitiveness between national economies on the basis of various criteria. The Global Competitiveness Index, published annually by the Institute, ranks 63 countries according to various economic parameters and is based on data collected from...