Competition committee to fight high cost of living
Ministerial body charged with removing import barriers and making Israeli prices comparable to those abroad
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Israel’s high cost of living and lack of competition in the local market will be tackled by a new panel in the process of being formed, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday.
The committee will headed by Amit Lang, the director general of the Finance Committee. His appointment will be announced on Monday by the ministerial committee on the cost of living, of which Bennett is the chairman.
The Finance Ministry press release on Sunday announced that the new sub-committee will be responsible for price comparison analyses between Israeli products and imports, identification of market failures and other barriers to examine existing barriers to importers, and formulating recommendations to improve consumer welfare.
According to the press release, the committee will have six months in which to submit its conclusions.
The finance and economics ministries said that the size of the Israeli market, market concentration, gaps in information and regulation and exclusivity agreements are among the several factors that have inhibited competition and driven up prices in Israel.
As a result, many products cost as much as double in Israel as they do abroad.
In a joint statement, Bennett and Lapid said that the “struggle we are leading to reduce the cost of living in Israel continues at full-speed. The Israeli economy is small and naturally aspires to market concentration, and we will work to create competition where it does not exist.”
The Times of Israel Community.