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צילום: shutterstock
(Photo: Shutterstock)
צילום: shutterstock

Government spending high while budget was pending

The Finance Ministry has published its budgetary action report for 2015, indicating large sums of money that were approved for use by different ministries. Much of this occurred while the budget was not yet approved, since the March elections and their aftermath delayed the passing of a budget bill in the Knesset.

The ten and a half months during which the state budget was managed by the Accountant General, because the Knesset failed to pass a budget for 2015, amounted to an average of NIS 32.7 billion spent by the government every month, according to a report released Sunday.

 

 

The Transportation Ministry received the largest budget for exceptional requests - NIS 23 billion over the course of the entire period. The Defense Ministry, meanwhile, received NIS 6 billion for exceptional requests.

 

The Tax Authority was authorized the most new positions, at 364 new jobs, while the Health Ministry received the largest budget for state supported institutions at NIS 565 million, followed by the Department of Religious Institutions in the Education Ministry that received NIS 349 million.

 

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. His Ministry received the second-largest allocation, after Defense. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. His Ministry received the second-largest allocation, after Defense. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

The 2015-2016 state budget was only approved on November 19, 2015. Since January 1, 2015 and until the approval of the budget, the state budget was managed by the Accountant General in the Finance Ministry. This was done in line with Basic Law: State Economy which determines that if a budget is not approved by the beginning of the calendar year, the government is permitted to spend 1/12th of the previous year's budget every month.

 

The 2015 state budget proposal was first raised in November of 2014 by then-finance minister Yair Lapid, but a month after passing its first reading, the Knesset voted to dissolve and hold early elections in March of 2015, which led to the state budget being shelved.

 

Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu was authorized to appoint four Exceptions Committees headed by senior deputies: The Central Exceptions Committee for all government ministries except the Defense Ministry; Exceptions Committee for matters of manpower, training and welfare; Exceptions Committee for state supported institutions; and an Exceptions Committee for the Defense Ministry.

 

Former Finance Minister Yair Lapid. His 2015-2016 budget proposal fell through. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Former Finance Minister Yair Lapid. His 2015-2016 budget proposal fell through. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

"Managing the state budget in the absence of an approved budget by the Knesset for almost 11 months constituted an unprecedented challenge for the Accountant General's Department," Abadi-Boiangiu said on Sunday. "During this time we allowed the government to continue functioning while making thousands of decisions and approving substantial amounts of exceptional funds."

 

The Accountant General's report shows that the monthly government allotment for expenses was NIS 32.7 billion, and that the rate of spending stood at 85.8 percent, compared with an average of 86.3 percent in the past ten years (a difference of about NIS 1.4 billion). The Central Exceptions Committee for all government ministries except the Defense Ministry examined requests for irregular expenses, including the requests for international flight financing (until March 2015, when authority over flights was transferred to the directors general of the ministries).

 

This committee approved requests at a rate of NIS 47.3 billion. The largest amount went, as said, to the Transportation Ministry – NIS 23 billion. The next biggest allocation was to the Finance Ministry – NIS 6.6 billion, and the Construction and Housing Ministry – NIS 3 billion. The smallest allocations went to the Administration of Population and Immigration (NIS 4,400), the Central Bureau of Statistics (NIS 8,800), and Ma'ayan HaChinuch HaToranI – a Sephardic ultra-orthodox network of schools (NIS 120,000). Irregular or unplanned Defense Ministry allocations were separately handled, and totaled about NIS 6 billion.

 

Budgetary discussions in the Knesset. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Budgetary discussions in the Knesset. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

The Exceptions Committee for matters of manpower, training and welfare approved 1,188 new positions, out of 1,466 requests. 364 of them went to the Tax Authority, 255 to the Public Security Ministry, and 237 to the Administration of Population and Immigration. The Exceptions Committee for state supported institutions examined requests by ministries for advance allocations, based on existing support regulations. It approved advanced in the amount of NIS 1.6 billion for the January-September period. The Health Ministry received the largest of these allocations, with NIS 565 million for support of health clinics. Next in line was the torah education administration with NIS 349 million for support of education and activities in torah institutions. Third in line was the Culture and Sport Ministry with NIS 60 million for support of theater institutes.

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.27.15, 19:46
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