A report on rapid and substantial gains in export of Israel’s products was coupled today by Trade Minister Pinhas Sapir with a warning against the Israel State Bank’s tight credit policy.
The Minister told the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, that almost 25 percent of Israel’s total output in 1960 was exported and that 90 countries on all continents now featured Israel products for sale. He emphasized that 70 percent of all 1960 exports were manufactured products.
Mr. Sapir said the export of such products had increased in that year by $150, 000, 000 and that in some cases the rate of increase in exports was more than double the increase in the rate of Israels’ production. He expressed the hope that the increase in turnover and efficiency which had made the export gains possible would not be “swallowed” by increasing profits or wages. He warned that unless rising consumption and the rate of rise in the country’s standard of living were slowed, the local price stability achieved during the past two years would disappear.
He indicated, however, he did not agree with the Israel State Bank credit policy, arguing that the bank’s fear of inflation was unjustified. He said that an expansion of credit, if properly distributed, was economically feasible. He added that his Ministry was convinced that industry had to be supplied with enough working capital to maintain and increase production but that he opposed transferring to consumers the credit granted to manufacturers.
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.
