For the first time since the establishment of Israel, foreign currency receipts were larger than foreign currency expenditures, during the fiscal year 1958-1959, according to Dr. Zvi Dienstein, foreign currency controller for the Israel Treasury.
Foreign currency revenue during the period, Dr. Dienstein announced today, totalled $608, 000, 000, exceeding the earlier estimate by 3. 5 percent. Expenditures aggregated $574, 000, 000, which was 2. 2 percent below the estimate for the fiscal year.
Total reserves at the end of March, Dr. Dienstein announced, were $140, 000, 000, the highest ever recorded by Israel at the end of a fiscal year. Foreign indebtedness increased by $52, 000, 000, reaching a total of $597, 000, 000. However, Dr. Dienstein noted, there was a “welcome” trend away from the “inconvenient” short-term debts to the cheaper long-term debts.
The controller also announced that, of the $374, 000, 000 of State of Israel bonds sold, $57, 000, 000 worth had been converted by owners into Israeli pounds; $7, 000, 000 has been repaid in dollars; while $310, 000, 000 worth of the bonds are still outstanding.
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