Finance Ministry Hails Lower Debt

Hailing it as “a stunning achievement for the Israeli economy,” the Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday that the ratio of public debt to GDP fell by a whopping 1.8 percent in 2015, Globes reported.

Downing the debt burden is expected to have an envigorating impact on Israel’s credit rating. The new data puts Israel ahead of all other Western countries since 2008 in controlling the debt-GDP ratio.

The fall in the debt ratio is also expected to lower financing costs on the debt, which totaled NIS 38 billion in 2014, in the current budget, thereby freeing up money for social spending.

Ministry of Finance Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu published on Tuesday an initial estimate for the ratio of public and governmental debt to GDP for 2015: A 64.9 percent public debt-to-GDP ratio, including the local authorities, is projected, 1.8 percent less than the ratio in the preceding year. An even steeper drop in the government debt-to-GDP ratio is projected: from 65.5 percent to 63.4 percent, a 2.2 percent decrease.