Levi Eshkol, Finance Minister, said today that the disputed 40, 000, 000-pound compulsory immigration loan was needed to cover past and current budget deficits. Opposition parties have led a fight to force suspension or cancellation of the loan, originally floated to help finance the East European immigration at the start of the year.
The Minister told the Knesset Finance Committee that there was a deficit in the last budget of 20, 000, 000 pounds and a 22, 000, 000 pound deficit in the current budget. He said the earlier deficit had been caused by the failure of the voluntary immigration loan and the current deficit by expenditures for housing for immigrants.
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.
