Great news: Tax revenues soar 12.2% since January.
Income tax revenue rose 8.9% in May to NIS 6.88b. and 11.2% to NIS 34.1b. for the full five month period. Customs and VAT Authority revenue shot up 15.7%, reaching NIS 6.3b., despite a slash in customs duties on electronic appliances and a one percentage point roll back in VAT to 17%, which took effect March 1. Since January the Treasury saw a 12.9% rise in its revenue to 28b.
My big worry is that due to political issues, the government won’t survive to complete its economic program. The problem with economic policy is that good policies usually hurt in the short run and pay off 4-5 years down the road. That means that the current government has to survive that long before it can get popular support for its economics. Netanyahu has done some amazing things for the economy, the best being his pledge that, “Every additional shekel in state revenue will go to reduce taxes, not to increase the budget framework or spending”. A few months ago he did just that. Now he as another chance. Netanyahu: Do your stuff.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at June 2, 2004 12:05 PMDavid, I love your free market talk and lower tax vision however and a big however with the real corrosive effects of government subsidizing
industry and the looting of the public coffers by special interest groups I have my doubts concerning the other class, the underclass that
does not have either the political or economic capital to fend for themselves sufficiently;in this evolving society we have 2 billion Chinese and Indian folk who are competing with US and the Eurpeans on a level that transfers great wealth
while diminishing the very consumer class that we have had in a post WW2 society. This is a form of economic war waged on the very foundations of our country which historically tried to disrupt the idea of an oligarchy type society. Look to Russia and Putin and the concerns they have with
transforming itself from a corrupt communist society to that of a more select privilaged and corrupt free market class. If this is not coherent enough I apologize for my lack of brevity.Gut Shabbos