A record IL 19.8 billion national budget for 1973-74 emphasizing social services and economic development was submitted today to the Knesset. If approved, the budget will go into effect April 1, the start of the new fiscal year. It reflects the increased rate of immigration, the growing costs of absorbing the newcomers and mounting needs in the areas of health, education and social welfare.
The military portion of the budget continued to decline in relations to the total budget. Military defense expenditures will rise by only seven percent and will account for 35.8 percent of the national budget compared to 39.8 percent for fiscal 1971-72 and 42 percent in 1970-71.
A 26 percent increase has been ear-marked for social services as well as a 14 percent rise for loans and other expenditures for economic development. The cost of absorbing immigrants in the coming year has been estimated at IL 3 billion which is borne by the State and the Jewish Agency. About 60,000 immigrants are expected this year compared to 55,400 in 1972 and 41,930 in 1971.
MAJOR INCREASES IN SOCIAL WELFARE, HEALTH
As in the past years, the budget is divided into two sections: an ordinary budget of IL 15.130 billion which covers all government expenditures, and a special budget amounting to IL 4.670 billion for development and repayment of debts. Military expenditures will rise from IL 5.515 billion to IL 6.125 billion. The major increases will be felt in education which goes up from IL 996 million to IL 1.443 billion this year health, from IL 271 million to IL 443 million; {SPAN}##{/SPAN} social welfare, from IL 107 million to IL 163.5 million.
Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir who presented the budget to the Knesset said that 1972 was marked by economic expansion. He noted that last year Israel earned its first billion dollars from exports of goods, its first billion from the export of services and the first billion dollars of foreign exchange reserves in its treasury. He said that the capital inflow, while creating inflationary pressures, stemmed the drain of Israel’s dollar resources. “At the end of 1969, he said, “we had only $350 million left, enough to pay for eight weeks of imports.”
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