Skip to main content

Israel Says Its Under $8 Billion Debt Since War With Hamas Began

Israel has raised about 30 billion shekels ($7.8 billion) in debt since the start of the war with Hamas militants, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

Slightly more than half of that - 16 billion shekels - was dollar-denominated debt raised in issuances in international markets, it said.

The ministry on Monday raised another 3.7 billion shekels in the local market in its weekly bond auction.

"The financing capabilities of the State of Israel allow the government to fully and optimally finance all its needs," the ministry's accountant-general division said.

The war that began on Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen rampaged through Israeli towns has sharply boosted Israel's expenses to fund the military as well as to compensate businesses near the border and families of victims and hostages taken by Hamas. At the same time, tax income has slowed.

As a result, Israel recorded a budget deficit of 22.9 billion shekels in October, a leap from 4.6 billion in September and pushing up the deficit over the prior 12 months to 2.6%.

The ministry said it would continue to operate "in all channels in order to finance the government's activities, including all the needs arising from the ... war and the economic and civil aid to the home front."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to "open the taps" to help those impacted by the war, which economists believe will sharply push up the deficit and debt to GDP ratio through 2024.

But Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron has said the government needs to balance "supporting the economy and maintaining a sound fiscal position."

Credit rating agencies have already warned they could cut Israel's ratings if debt metrics deteriorate.

The accountant general denied an Israeli media report that the state would apply for a loan from the Bank of Israel for the first time since 1986.

($1 = 3.8635 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/8TwCHRa
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

US Power Firm Admits It May Have Sparked Texas' Largest Wildfire Ever

A US power company admitted Thursday that its equipment may have sparked the largest wildfire in Texas' history. Xcel -- the parent of Southwest Public Service Company, which provides electricity to part of the state -- said it was working with officials investigating the cause of the blaze that charred more than a million acres (over 400,000 hectares). "Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," the company said. Hundreds of homes are thought to have been destroyed in the fire, which is known to have killed at least two people and over 3,000 farm animals. Xcel, which is facing at least one lawsuit, denied its equipment was improperly maintained. "However, we encourage people who had property destroyed by, or livestock lost in, the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process," the statement said. The W
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Official, Kamala Harris Is Democratic Candidate For US Election

US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November's showdown against Republican Donald Trump. Kamala Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month. "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Kamala Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote. In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris has gained full control of the party. No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party's nomination a formality. The a
Post a Comment
Read more

All You Need To Know About Donald Trump's 1st Criminal Trial

Donald Trump goes on trial Monday for allegedly covering up hush money payments to hide affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election which propelled him into the White House. He will become the first former US president to go on criminal trial when jury selection begins next week. Here are the key questions ahead of the landmark trial: What is Trump accused of? As Trump closed in on victory in the 2016 presidential election, adult film star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual tryst with Trump. The payments, made by Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, were revealed by The Wall Street Journal in January 2018. Prosecutors have seized on the concealment of the payments as "legal fees" in the Trump Organization's accounts when Cohen was reimbursed as the heart of their case. Prosecutors say Trump "concealed the reason for these payments... which clearly were paid in order to influence voters," former prosec
Post a Comment
Read more