Israel Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin has signed an agreement with the United States Government for the sale of $30.4 million in surplus foodstuffs to Israel in calendar year 1968. Lucius Battle, Assistant Secretary of State, signed the instrument for the United States.
The transaction represented an increase from the $27 million transaction of last year. Repayment will be in dollars over a 20-year period. The interest rate is 2.5 percent. Five percent of the total is to be paid in cash.
The Department of Agriculture said in connection with the agreement that, despite progress in Israeli agriculture, the limited water and land resources necessitated imports. It was noted that Israel, through its own efforts, increased food production by over 14 percent in the last year.
Food contained in the agreement included 300,000 tons of feed grains, 150,000 tons of wheat, 15,000 tons of vegetable oil, 200 tons of tobacco and other goods.
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