Tel Aviv, MINA – Israel said Thursday that the budget deficit reached 7 per cent of the GDP, hitting $35.7 billion since April 2023, Anadolu Agency reports.
The deficit amounted to 132.2 billion shekels ($35.7 billion), an unprecedented figure since the 2008 global financial crisis, amid the ongoing war on Gaza seven months ago, the office of the general accountant of the Israeli Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
As a result, the recorded deficit exceeded the government’s target for the entire year 2024, which was 6.6 per cent of Israel’s GDP.
The financial deficit reached 11.7 billion shekels ($3.16 billion) in April alone.
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The deficit growth will continue in the coming months despite the better-than-expected revenues, according to the statement.
The Ministry of Finance estimates that the annual deficit will peak in September and is expected to decline to 6.6 per cent of GDP by the end of the year.
In contrast, the statement believes that given the current rate of government spending, the picture may be more pessimistic, and the financial deficit by the end of the year may reach 8 per cent of GDP.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since Octber 7, 2023. More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,500 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. (T/RE1/P2)
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