The Ministry of Finance: the government deficit and its financing for January-February 2020 - a deficit of 3.2%

The Ministry of Finance reports today an initial estimate of the budget, the government deficit and its financing for January-February 2020, which indicates that there has been a decline in the government deficit in the last 12 months, compared with the previous month, a deficit of 3.2%.
According to the report, the cumulative deficit in the last 12 months (March 2019 - February 2020) stands at 3.1% of GDP, while in February the government continued to operate within the "continuing budget" - that is, without an approved budget framework and in accordance with the State Basic Law permitting For the government to spend 1/12 of the 2019 budget each month.
In February 2020, government spending amounted to NIS 28.5 billion, and a budget deficit of NIS 3.3 billion was measured, compared with a budget deficit of NIS 4.9 billion in February last year. In January-January, a surplus of NIS 2.6 billion was measured, compared with a deficit of NIS 5.7 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Government expenditures since the beginning of 2020 amounted to NIS 56.2 billion, of which NIS 50.6 billion was spent by government ministries, interest payments on government debt of NIS 5.4 billion, and repayment of principal and interest to the National Insurance Institute in the amount of NIS 0.1 billion.
The Ministry of Finance notes that the decrease in government ministries in January-February is planned as a result of "the continuing budget", which has a uniform monthly cap over all months, while there are relatively high principal and government debt payments in certain months, especially in the first half of the year. .
These repayments, which are a top priority for payment, require actions to reduce cash quotas for office expenses and create surplus relative to the total monthly quota. The allowable cash expenditure cap in the ongoing budget is NIS 40.2 billion per month.