The Ministry of Finance said that as of the end of June it had spent 47% of its promised NIS 10 million economic rescue package.
Israel's budget deficit has widened to 7.2% of GDP for the 12 months ending July 31, 2020, the Ministry of Finance reports, up from 6.4% at the end of June and 6% at the end of May. The deficit has continued widening since the coronavirus crisis took hold - from 4.8% at the end of April, 4% at the end of March and 3.1% at the end of February.
Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in June, the government has injected NIS 57 billion into the economy as part of its recovery package, which is 42% of the overall NIS 135 billion in assistance planned. In July, the government handed out NIS 9.4 billion, a similar amount to June but less than was paid out in April and May.
The gap between government revenues and expenditure since the start of 2020 has been NIS 70 billion, compared with NIS 24 billion over the same period in 2019.
Estimates are that by the end of 2020, the deficit could reach between 10% and 11%.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 5, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020
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