Israel's budget deficit has narrowed further to 3.1% over the past 12 months due to the temporary budget. According to figures published today by the Ministry of Finance, government expenditure fell 5.5% in the first two months of the year compared with the corresponding period in 2019. At the end of January the budget deficit had narrowed sharply from 3.8% at the end of December 2019 to 3.2% after the temporary budget, due to the lack of a government, had kicked in and a budget surplus was reported. RELATED ARTICLES Budget deficit narrows sharply after Jan surplus In January-February 2020 government revenues totaled NIS 58.2 billion compared with NIS 53.8 billion in the first two months of 2019. Overall tax revenues rose 9% - revenues from direct taxes rose 13% and revenues from indirect taxes rose 5%. The influence of the coronavirus outbreak would only have been felt towards the end of February. There was an 89% jump in tax revenues from the capital market to NIS 477 million in January. Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 5, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020
