A new national economic plan covering the five-year period up to 1978 was introduced by Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir in the Cabinet today. He called for an expanded economy to meet the needs of 65,000 new immigrants yearly. The plan, which will be debated next week by the Ministerial Economic Committee, calls for an average yearly gross national product of 7.8 percent and an average annual increase of 4.5 percent in productivity.
Planning officials figure that by 1978 the Israeli economy must expand to handle an estimated population increase annually of 3.3 percent. In five years, Israel should have a population of 3.8 mil- lion, an increase of 600,000, officials say. Exports, according to the projections, are to increase at an annual rate of 5.8 percent, while imports should rise annually by eight percent.
Finance Ministry officials told a news conference here that the plan allows for an increase in the standard of living of three percent annually. The officials hinted that a new round of taxes may be required to meet the costs of the plan. Sapir noted that his proposed added value tax should come into force next year.
Employment, according to the plan, would reach 1.28 million in 1978, if as expected, 49.6 percent of the population is working. This would be considered full employment, as 96.8 percent of the total labor force would then be engaged in work. According to planners, the government should be able to increase social services, especially housing for the poor.
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