The Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday that the improvement in Israel’s trade balance was continuing, citing a drop (during the first seven months of this year) in Israel’s trade deficit of 35 percent, compared to the deficit in the second half of last year.
The bureau reported that the deficit totalled $1,148.8 million, compared to $1,753 million during the second half of 1984. Overall imports dropped by 7.5 percent and exports have been stable, the bureau reported, while imports of consumer goods dropped by nine percent. The bureau said about one-third of the fall in the trade deficit was credited to a drop in the import of oil products, since Israel is reportedly dipping into its oil reserves.
Officials said the foreign trade figures were the latest in a series of positive indicators boosting the government’s claims that its economic austerity program was succeeding.
Imports between January and July totalled $4,549 million while exports in the same period were $3,407 million, an increase of 7.6 percent over the corresponding 1984 period.
AGREEMENT ON DISMISSALS REACHED
In a related economic policy development, the Histadrut, Israel’s powerful labor federation, and the government agreed in principle Tuesday to speed up dismissal of government workers. But a growing resistance to, this agreement was reported among civil service workers organizations.
The negative workers’ reaction led Treasury officials to express concern that the dismissals in Israel’s huge bureaucracy might be hard to implement. Observers said that the Clerical Workers Union and the Civil Servants Union were likely to ignore the dismissal agreement.
TERMS OF AGREEMENT
Terms of the agreement confirmed government goals to cut three percent of public work force — some 7,000 workers — off the public payroll, implemented in accordance with present labor pacts.
Officials said this meant that those listed for dismissal will benefit from further negotiations and not be laid off at the sole discretion of the government. Compensation for laid off civil service workers also will be negotiable, officials said.
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