For the first time since the establishment of Israel, foreign currency receipts were larger than foreign currency expenditures, during the fiscal year 1958-1959, according to Dr. Zvi Dienstein, foreign currency controller for the Israel Treasury.
Foreign currency revenue during the period, Dr. Dienstein announced today, totalled $608, 000, 000, exceeding the earlier estimate by 3. 5 percent. Expenditures aggregated $574, 000, 000, which was 2. 2 percent below the estimate for the fiscal year.
Total reserves at the end of March, Dr. Dienstein announced, were $140, 000, 000, the highest ever recorded by Israel at the end of a fiscal year. Foreign indebtedness increased by $52, 000, 000, reaching a total of $597, 000, 000. However, Dr. Dienstein noted, there was a “welcome” trend away from the “inconvenient” short-term debts to the cheaper long-term debts.
The controller also announced that, of the $374, 000, 000 of State of Israel bonds sold, $57, 000, 000 worth had been converted by owners into Israeli pounds; $7, 000, 000 has been repaid in dollars; while $310, 000, 000 worth of the bonds are still outstanding.
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.
