ECONOMY

In August 2024, the average monthly wage in Israel was NIS 13,138, up 5.3% from August 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

The bank sees the shekel rebounding strongly in the event of a swift ceasefire, but estimates that the fiscal deficit will in any case exceed official forecasts.

The ratings agency has cut Israel's sovereign credit rating for the second time this year and expects a "delayed economic recovery."

Israel's population grew by 1.2% or 118,000 over the past year to just over 9.9 million, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

Moody's senior vice president Kathrin Muehlbronner criticized government policy, and said economic recovery after the current conflict would be slow.

Meitav chairperson Zvi Stepak says Israel's military successes explain the stock market's strength despite the Moody's downgrade, but warns that the government's conduct could hinder recovery.

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich promised a responsible budget, and refrained from a sharp attack on the downgrade decision.

Chen Herzog of CEO: The downgrade will mean higher taxes, higher prices, erosion of wages, and also harm to savings and pensions

The unexpectedly harsh downgrade, driven by the escalation in the north, puts Israel on par with countries like Kazakhstan.

There are reports of shopkeepers and businesses refusing to accept NIS 200 bills and of a big increase in Israelis changing NIS 200 bills for foreign currency.

The Ministry of Finance plans to back out of a commitment to raise the amount of pension payments exempt from tax next year.

The public’s pension and long-term saving assets reached NIS 2.5 trillion at the end of last year, according to the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority's report.

Israel's Ministry of Finance is proposing a raft of drastic measures to narrow Israel's ballooning fiscal deficit.

In its first public comment on the proposal, the central bank says "no sufficiently well-founded professional justification has been presented."

Uri Yonisi told the Globes-Bank Leumi Mortgages Conference that the government needed to acknowledge the housing crisis, and that young couples were suffering the most.

The Israel Innovation Authority finds employment stable and investment holding up, but also matters for concern, such as an over-dependence on cybersecurity.

The draft economic arrangements bill, which will be attached to the 2025 budget, also proposes closing five superfluous ministries, tighter controls on the defense budget and a five-day school week.

The proposed economic arrangements bill would give the Ministry of Finance greater powers in supervising the defense budget and in particular salaries and pensions.

The plan includes voluntary disclosure, so that people depositing the otherwise worthless notes in banks can pay income tax and be immune from prosecution.

Even though the US rate is likely to fall below interest rates in Israel, the uncertainties of the war could outweigh any boost to the shekel.

The planned NIS 0.15 per kilometer tax, starting 2025, would be lower than the estimated NIS 0.19 per kilometer paid in excise on gasoline and diesel.

Henley & Partners and New World Wealth Research Centi-Millionaire Report 2024 found 212 centi-millionaires living in Israel including 82 in Tel Aviv.

Punitive tariffs by the EU, the US and Canada are forcing Chinese manufacturers to offload stocks elsewhere, and thousands of vehicles are Israel-bound.

The Central Bureau of Statistics now says Israel's per capita GDP fell by an annualized 0.9% in the second quarter.

Annual inflation in Israel has jumped to 3.6%, while housing prices also continue to rise sharply.

In a meeting with Histadrut chair Arnon Bar-David on the state budget, the minister of finance proposed closing superfluous government ministries.

Budget Commissioner Yogev Gradus warned the Knesset Finance Committee that interest rate costs would skyrocket if budget restraints are not imposed.

The deficit for the twelve months to the end of August reached 8.3% of GDP, drifting further away from the government's 6.6% target for 2024.

Israel's Ministry of Finance has received a radical proposal from former senior officials and businesspeople to tackle black capital and tax evasion, and narrow the fiscal deficit.

Discussions are underway on reform of the real estate tax, which has become a bureaucratic monster.

In July 2024, the average wage in Israel was NIS 13,683, up 6.7% from July 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.