Israel’s Budget Deficit Reduced to Lowest Level in 15 Years

Israel’s budget deficit has been reduced to its lowest level in 15 years, the country’s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. The deficit for the 12-month period ending in April was 9.8 billion shekels ($2.83 billion), or 0.6% of gross domestic product. It hasn’t been lower since 2007 when the deficit was wiped out completely. The ministry said the current low deficit was due to a decline in the financial support needed by businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a significant increase in revenues. Government revenues for the first four months of 2022 have reached 166.6 billion shekels, a 25.6% increase year-on-year; expenditures during this period totaled 134.6 billion shekels, down 15.7%. This resulted in a 32-billion-shekel surplus; during the same four-month period last year, the government recorded a 26.9-billion-shekel deficit.