David Horowitz, Governor of the Israel State Bank, warned in a report today that there had been no improvement during the past five years in Israel’s adverse trade balance.
He said that in the first seven months of 1959, the rise in means of payment totaled 16.4 percent and that he was making his report in accordance with the State bank law requirement that the governor of the bank must sound a warning if the rise exceeds 15 percent in any 12-month period. The report was made to the Finance Committee of Israel’s Parliament.
Urging less public spending and more private saving and other safeguards to balance the Government budget, the banking official reported that the adverse trade balance was $300,000,000 at the end of 1959 as against $286,000,000 at the end of 1955.
The main reason for the rise in means of payment, he said, was the growing balance of foreign currency reserves and increased credit facilities to the public. He urged a cutdown in the flow of bank credit and authority to the State Bank to have greater leeway in regulating the fluidity of financial institutions in Israel.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
