Knesset Debates Government Report on Economic Progress

The Israel Parliament today began a debate on the report of Israel’s economic and financial progress which was presented here yesterday by Finance Minister Levi Eskhol. The report, which attracted wide attention throughout the country, pointed out that Israel’s trade balance last year was in the red to the extent of 80,000,000 pounds.

To improve the trade balance, Mr. Eshkol told the Israeli people that industry must become more efficient and turn out better and cheaper products for the international market. He appealed to labor to recognize its stake in helping cut production costs. He said that Israel, faced with the choice of maintaining its present standard of living without worrying for the future of the country or making sacrifices now to guarantee a better life for succeeding generations, had chosen the latter path.

The Finance Minister warned the public that government subsidies designed to keep prices of essential commodities within reach of the general public might have to be abandoned. Citing comparative statistics of the cost of essential commodities in various European countries, Mr. Eshkol pointed up the fact that the Israel’s standard of living despite cuts is still higher than in many other sectors of the western world.

He reported that in Israel a worker had to work eight minutes to earn a kilo (2.2 pounds) of bread, while in England 13 minutes was required for the same item. In Israel, he said, four minutes labor will earn a single egg, while in England six minutes is required, in Czechoslovakia nine minutes, and in Poland 26 minutes.

Mr. Eshkol also emphasized that this was the first time in the five-year history of the Jewish State that the normal administrative and defense budgets had been balanced. He concluded with the exhortation: “We must work and work, and be able to sell to earn our living. We cannot depend on other sources.”