Resettlement of new immigrants is being implemented under a plan geared to an anticipated population in the next 10 years of 3,000,000 Jews and 360,000 Arabs, Minister of the Interior Moshe Shapiro told Parliament today.
In presenting the budget for his Ministry, Mr. Shapiro said that the plan provides for a greater Tel Aviv area of more than 900,000 population, 400,000 for Haifa and 250,000 for Jerusalem. Israel now has a population of approximately 2,000,000 Jews and 250,000 Arabs.
The Minister said Eilat, Israel’s southernmost port city, was expected to reach a population of 38,000, and Beersheba and its environs some 125,000.
He also announced that the Israel Treasury had decided to cancel the dollar-linking proviso on outstanding loans of local councils which would be affected by the devaluation of the Israel pound last March. The devaluation would increase their 65,000,000 pounds (about $21,000,000) of debt by a third more.
He said that to alleviate that burden, a waiver would be applied for such loans on which there is no return on the investment, such as for roads, bridges, drainage, parks, play fields, schools, hospitals and synagogues. For loans on such projects as construction of markets and industrial and commercial centers, terms for repayment were extended by one-third.
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