Heavy defense expenditures have contributed to inflationary pressures in several of the Middle East countries, the United Nations said today in a report on the economic situation in Israel and the Arab lands. The report stressed that economic difficulties in these countries “are not lessened by unsettled political situations in the Middle East.”
The report was issued here in advance of the opening of the 22nd session of the UN Economic and Social Council in Geneva next Monday. It established that Israel’s industrial output continued to grow in 1954 and 1955, although the rate of increase fell off somewhat.
The net value of Israel mining and industry rose from 219,000,000 pounds in 1954 to 270,000,000 in 1955. Investments fell from 70,000,000 in 1953 to 68,000,000 in the following year, the report said. Israel’s merchant tonnage also fell during 1954. Agricultural production in the Jewish State suffered as a result of adverse weather conditions, the report stated. It noted the discovery of oil in Israel.
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