Israel's fiscal deficit beats target

The 2010 deficit was 3.73% of GDP, compared with a planned 5.5%.

The government deficit totaled NIS 30.2 billion in 2010, 3.73% of GDP, compared with the original budget plan of 5.5%, the Ministry of Finance announced today. The ministry attributes most of the lower-than-expected deficit to the revenue side, as well as lower interest expenses and higher than expected GDP growth.

Budget performance was 99.4% of the original budget in 2010. Nearly the full budget was used, with some ministries exceeding 100% performance, such as the Ministry of Defense, whose performance was 105.8%.

The Ministry of Defense spent NIS 9 billion overseas, NIS 2.2 billion more than planned. The defense budget totaled NIS 62 billion, compared with the original NIS 55 billion planned. NIS 5-6 billion of this budget is for the Mossad and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), and additional substantial revenue came from the sale of weapons. Altogether the defense budget received a NIS 3 billion supplement.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 13, 2011

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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