Finance Ministry Budget Director David Milgrom has stated
that the NIS 215 billion state budget and arrangements law
approved by the Knesset on February 4 did not deviate from
the planned budget framework which had been submitted in
August 1998, and maintains the 2% planned deficit. Despite
the last minute demands of coalition partners, including UTJ,
the budgetary framework was maintained, and the long term
plans of the planners of the Finance Ministry were not upset.
The budget was not an "election budget" such as the one
passed by Treasury Minister Schochat in the last days of the
previous Labor government. Milgrom said, "In all matters
regarding the implementation of the coalition articles that
depend on additional funding, these articles will be budgeted
within the state budget framework, in accordance with
budgetary needs."
There will be a 30% increase in infrastructure investment, or
NIS 1 billion, over 1998. Milgrom also noted that 38 of 50
articles for reform were also approved, including opening
banking to competition, opening pharmaceuticals to imports of
similar medicines, changing from a budgetary pension to an
accumulative pension, increasing local government efficiency,
issuing of commercial securities as a means to improve the
capital market, structural reforms in water services, public
transportation and health services, separating linkage
payments from the CPI index and preventing abuse of
unemployment payments.
