Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Israel Katz have unveiled a new financial stimulus plan, despite a warning from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, not to introduce measures that could be interpreted as 'election economics.'
The plan includes three main components:
1. Grants to households in the bottom to seventh income deciles: NIS 750 per person and NIS 500 for every child until the fourth child; and NIS 300 for every child from the fifth child.
2.Grants to businesses: Businesses with revenue of NIS 18,000 to 300,000 will receive grants of between NIS 8,000-15,000, depending on the damage done by the crisis; businesses with revenue of more than NIS 300,000 will receive grants of up to NIS 30,000. New businesses opened in 2020 will receive a grant of NIS 8,000.
3. Incentives to resume working: People unemployed for 80 days or more since 2020, who resume working for more than four months will receive unemployment pay for their first month back at work, a bonus payment in their second and third months, and unemployment pay in their fourth month. There will also be grants for employers who bring back employees from unpaid leave.
Other measures include grants to disabled people, spreading VAT payments over six months and easier term loans for businesses.
Netanyahu insisted. "This is not election propaganda and not election economics. The US has invested NIS 180 billion in Israeli terms and did the US attorney general disqualify it? Why is it election economics if it helps the Israeli people?"
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 24, 2021
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