Yoacav Ne’eman, Director General of the Finance Ministry, predicted a levelling -off of Israel’s cost-of-living index by next April and a possible downward trend by August, provided there is no international crisis that sends oil prices soaring to new heights.
Addressing a group of judges and lawyers at a seminar on Israel’s current problems, Ne’eman said recent developments have yielded promising signs for the fight against inflation. He referred to the government’s new policy of reducing or eliminating price subsidies, the freezing of credit, the settlement with El Al employes and other workers and cuts in the national budget.
The Finance Ministry official said the economic situation is worse than it was in the early 1950s when Israel, a new nation, was beset by shortages and was forced to ration many essentials. It is more difficult now to see the dark picture because there is an abundance of goods, the shops are crowded and people drive large cars, he said.
But Ne’eman warned that Israelis must understand that the rood between abundance and bankruptcy is very short. If Israel were to default on even one small payment of its loans it would be considered bankrupt and would have to suffer the consequences, he said.
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.
