Finance Minister Yair Lapid
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
March budget deficit totals NIS 2.9B
Finance Ministry puts deficit so far in 2013 at NIS 4.6 billion, says both tax income and spending were year's highest
Israel
posted a budget deficit of NIS 2.9 billion ($806 million) in March to bring the deficit so far in 2013 to NIS 4.6 billion ($1.27 billion), the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
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Both tax income and spending were the highest of the year.
Income from taxes alone totaled NIS 19 billion ($5.24 billion) in March, up 5.7% versus March 2012. For the first three months of 2013, tax revenue was down 1.8%.
Israel is targeting a deficit of 3% of GDP in 2013. To meet that aim, the government will need to implement steep spending cuts and possible tax hikes.
In 2012, Israel recorded a budget deficit of NIS 39 billion ($10.76 billion), or 4.2% of gross domestic product. That was above an initial target of 2% and a revised target of about 3.5%.
