Finance Minister Yoram Aridor called on labor and management today to help put the nation’s troubled economy in order. He said that without the cooperation of Histadrut and the employers, his new economic program could not succeed and increased unemployment would not be avoidable.
Aridor’s program is aimed at reducing inflation by slowing down the rate of price increases in areas within the government’s control. At its present rate, inflation is expected to soar to 135 percent by the end of the current fiscal year. The government had predicted earlier an inflation rate of no more than 90 percent.
Aridor blamed Israel’s declining exports on the continuing economic depression in the West. Leaders of the Israel Manufacturers Association complained bitterly to the Knesset Finance Committee about the shrinkage of exports. The areas most affected are textiles, fertilizers, pesticides, plastics and food. On the other hand, the exports of electronics and metal products are holding up.
Aridor claimed impressive achievements for his economic program, notably the low rate of unemployment which is not more than five percent of the working population.
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