IMF calls Israel’s deficit goal unrealistic

16 September 2015, 5:47 pm

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Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon arrives at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on September 6, 2015. (Ohad Zwigenberg/POOL)

The state’s deficit goal for the coming year (2.9 percent of the GDP) is unachievable in light of the growth in security expenditure, the annual report by the International Monetary Fund on Israel determines.

The report was submitted by the IMF to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and to Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug.

According to the report, the government “met the original deficit target of 2.8 percent of GDP in 2014. However, the government raised the deficit targets for 2015 and 2016 to 2.9 percent of GDP for both years, (almost 4 percent of GDP based on international accounting standards), compared with 2.5 and 2.0 percent of GDP previously.”