Israel’s 1957 budget, totaling 850,000,000 pounds, was presented to Parliament today by Finance Minister Levi Eshkol. In a two-hour address which accompanied presentation of the document, Mr. Eshkol reviewed Israel’s economic development in 1956 and the government’s economic plan for 1957.
Mr. Eshkol disclosed that an increase in defense expenditures last year had necessitated a slowdown in development spending. While agricultural production had increased considerably last year, he said, industrial development had made less progress. Renewed mass immigration had also strained the national economy, he noted.
“Special activities aimed at raising additional funds from world Jewry for new immigrants” absorption succeeded only partially,” the Finance Minister reported. In the coming year, he continued, “the Jewish people will again be called to mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars to enable the return of exiles from Africa and the remnants of European Jewry, giving them new roots in their homeland.”
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.
