IMF gives Israel mixed report card

JERUSALEM, Nov. 12 (JTA) – The International Monetary Fund has given Israel a mixed report card. In a report presented this week to Israeli officials, an IMF delegation said the Jewish state’s immediate economic outlook was not promising. The report pointed to disappointing economic growth and a sharp rise in unemployment. Israel is expected to undergo growth of about 2 percent this year, and treasury officials have forecast only a slight improvement for 1998. The report attributed the lackluster growth to the security situation in Israel and a drop in immigration. But IMF officials saw some encouraging signs in the government’s efforts to cut deficits, its maintenance of inflationary targets and its continued efforts at privatization.