'Israel' 2024 revised budget deficit tripled from original forecast
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An Israeli media outlet described the war on Gaza as the "most expensive" war the occupation entity has ever fought.
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Israeli Merkava tanks heading toward the Gaza Strip border in southern occupied Palestine to join the ground invasion on Thursday, Oct.12, 2023 (AP)
A revised draft of the 2024 budget in "Israel" released on Sunday showed that the budget deficit is expected to rise from 2.25% to 6.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) throughout the year.
According to Reuters, ministers in the Israeli occupation government will later today "discuss a modified budget that will include significant spending to finance Israel's war on the Gaza Strip."
Read more: War costs a lot of money that we spend every day: Netanyahu
The news agency added that a vote on the draft is expected to take place on Monday morning.
According to the revised financial statement, the war that began on October 7, 2023, will lead to a 1.1% economic decline in 2024.
The financial impact of the war is estimated at approximately 150 billion shekels ($40.25 billion) between 2023-2024, assuming the intensive fighting ends in the first quarter of this year.
Deficit target missed by over 4 folds
Last week, the occupation government reported a budget deficit of 16.6 billion shekels ($4.5 billion) for November, attributing it to "Israel's" war on Gaza, which played a pivotal role in this fiscal setback.
The deficit announced then as a percentage of GDP rose to 4.2% by year-end, reaching 77.5 billion, compared to 2.6% in October, amounting to over 50% surge in spending vs. income.
The expected target of 2023 was 0.9%, set at 16.9 billion shekels in the budget approved by lawmakers in May. Meanwhile, the final deficit was over 4 times the target.
'Most expensive war'
The Israeli economy is suffering significant repercussions from the war on Gaza, including a sharp increase in unemployment reaching unprecedented levels. Hundreds of thousands of workers have been laid off or called up as reservists, and requests for unemployment benefits have surged.
Israeli i24NEWS news website warned earlier this month that "Israel" is fighting in its most expensive war ever.
In a survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics in "Israel" released last October, it was found that around 50% of Israeli companies experienced a significant drop in revenues amid the aggression on Gaza. Notably, the construction and food services sectors took the hardest hit, with more the three-quarters of the surveyed companies reporting a revenue decline of over 70%.
In addition to the unexpected and substantial costs of the military operations, which have led the occupation entity to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars, as reported by Bloomberg.
