A Ministry of Finance plan to flood the market with 70,000 new homes a year is off the agenda, deputy budget director Sharon Gamsho told the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee today. He said that a plan proposed by Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias is on the table instead.
"The housing minister sought a first meeting with the prime minister, where he outlined an alternative plan similar to ours. A separate meeting was held on this matter. The plan was approved. Therefore, most of the measures we proposed have been removed at the prime minister's request. At the technical level, our plan has been gutted."
Gamsho also said that the 2011-12 economic arrangements bill will abolish the Public Housing Law.
Members of the Economics Committee were infuriated that these matters were settled behind closed doors. They also criticized Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz for cancelling his participation in the committee meeting at the last minute.
MK Miri Regev (Likud) said, "There is a real problem for thousands of couples."
MK Amir Peretz (Labor) called for the meeting to be adjourned, saying "The policy makers aren’t here. The ministers have no answers, which is why they avoided showing up."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 21, 2010
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