Even though Israel reported a fiscal deficit of NIS 1.5 billion in June, ending five consecutive months in which the cumulative fiscal deficit fell, the country has reported a fiscal surplus of 0.4% for the 12 months ending June 2022, the Ministry of Finance Accountant General reports. This is the first time since 2007 that Israel has ended 12 months with a cumulative fiscal surplus, rather than a cumulative deficit.
The reason for the improvement in Israel's 12-month cumulative fiscal data, despite June being the first month of deficit since the start of 2022, is that the deficit in June was far smaller than in June 2021, when the deficit was NIS 8.8 billion, nearly six times larger than last mont.
In the first half of 2022 there was a cumulative fiscal surplus of NIS 31.9 billion compared with a cumulative fiscal deficit of NIS 43.7 billion in the first six months of 2021. In the first half of 2021, the government was burdened with unpaid leave payments and compensation to businesses hit by the Covid pandemic. These payments were halted in June 2021, and since then government expenditure has fallen.
At the same time, government revenues between January and June 2022 were NIS 241 billion, up 25% compared with the corresponding period of 2021. However, government revenues in June 2022 were only NIS 34.9 billion, the lowest monthly figure since the start of the year.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 10, 2022.
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