Finance Minister Yoram Aridor, under heavy fire recently for deteriorating economic conditions, declared today that he has the full support of the government and the Prime Minister and announced measures intended to restore public confidence in his policies.
Appearing on a television interview, Aridor said he has no intention of quitting and claimed that compared to Finance Ministers who preceded him, he was in fact popular. He blamed Israel’s economic difficulties on the current world recession but rejected suggestions that the Shekel should be devalued at a more rapid pace to help exports because that would only lead to higher inflation. Israel has had triple digit inflation since the beginning of the year.
Aridor’s confidence-building measures include a promise not to renew the compulsory “loan” to finance the war in Lebanon which is deducted from workers’ paychecks and abolition of the two percent tax on oversubscribed stock issues.
The Finance Minister is concerned with the rapid decline in stock prices and is urging the public to invest in shares. “I am interested in the stock exchange and I will not let it collapse,” Aridor said. He rejected a suggestion by Hebrew University economist Michael Bruno that the government reach an agreement with Histadrut on a partial linkage of wages to inflation. He said Histadrut would not accept a partial linkage.
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.
