JERUSALEM, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron warned on Sunday that the state's annual budget deficit may reach 13 percent of GDP by the end of the year.
Israel's annual budget deficit recently reached a record 88.4 billion new shekels (25.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to a report issued by the Ministry of Finance earlier in July.
The deficit figure, between July 2019 and June 2020, accounted for 6.4 percent of Israel's GDP, way above the government target of 3 percent.
On Sunday, the governor spoke at the government meeting and referred to the expansion of the government new plan to support business owners and self-employed during the coronavirus crisis, according to a statement issued by the central bank.
Following the expansion of the plan, the governor estimated that the budget deficit would increase accordingly.
Yaron noted that the potential budgetary cost of expanding the plan is about 15 billion shekels in 2020, and about 27 billion shekels in 2021.
He estimated that in 2021, the deficit will be cut by almost half compared to his 13 percent 2020 forecast, reaching 7 percent of GDP.
However, the bank governor said that the government can successfully finance the plan, "as the trust of the financial markets in the Israeli economy will help the country overcome the crisis in terms of the financing requirements." Enditem
