In the coming days, the Ministry of Finance will publish two "package packages", as defined - one to lower the cost of living and the other to help exporters due to the collapse of the dollar against the shekel.
"We are working in full coordination with the Bank of Israel and it is doing what needs to be done, but it cannot change the situation," Lieberman admitted today (Monday) referring to the soaring shekel.
"We are an export-oriented country, and the excess demand for the shekel will lead to its continued strengthening."
But in another context, Lieberman noted that "we see interest from multinational companies in Israel, including foreign companies that are approaching the tender for the solar station in Dimona, and this will moderate the strengthening of the shekel."
This statement contradicts the economic logic and it is not clear what the Minister meant by this, since the activity of foreign companies in Israel increases the demand for the shekel.
Lieberman, at a conference in Eilat, Photo: Itamar Saida
Regarding housing prices, Lieberman took the trouble to lower expectations.
"There is no magic, it is not hocus pocus," he ruled, taking the opportunity to sting his political rival Netanyahu: "The last magician who was in government is now sitting in opposition."
He added that "it does not make sense that AirBNB currently owns 13,000 housing units that are not needed now, due to the decline in tourism."
The minister declared in the same context that he would not hesitate "to confront any body," noting with humor that "since the destruction of the Second Temple there has been no such demand for mortgages."
"We need to be realistic. If we manage to moderate the price increase to 6% -5% next year - it will be a very big achievement. Housing prices in all OECD countries have risen less than in Israel, and we also need to reach a situation where a young couple can afford "Buy an apartment without suffocating himself - so that he does not lose half of the income for housing, but only a quarter."
It should be noted that today the average mortgage is NIS 950,000.
Regarding the cost of living, Lieberman said: "We have appointed a committee to look at the brokerage gaps in agriculture. The marketing chains have made a good buck since the outbreak of the corona, and when I look at the reports of the chains and the stock performance of the big three, I wish we all made such profits."
Rise in apartment prices.
Lieberman: "There is no magic, it is not hocus pocus", Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
However, the minister refrained from pointing to the chains as a reason for the rise in fruit and vegetable prices.
He mentioned that "the competition authority, which examined the price differences in 2019, did not find any significant findings regarding the chains. I believe less in supervision and more in competition, and this should be fair and open. The regulated egg market is a relatively small market of NIS 2 billion, but Fruit and vegetables are a market of NIS 25 billion. "
The Minister of Finance stated that "when world fuel prices rose by 130%, our price of 95-octane gasoline rose by only 24%."
Not thrilled by the review
As for the claim that the government is not working to lower the cost of living, the minister replied: "This government has only been in office for six months. We should wait at least a year before we are judged." The two best finance ministers Israel has paid a very heavy political price;
Yitzhak Modai, who ended his career, and Benjamin Netanyahu, who was excellent finance minister, dropped to 12 seats. "
"I meanwhile see great support in all the steps I take," Lieberman claimed.
"We have to do what is right and not what is popular. I took the price into account, and I have no problem with the criticism and the pressures. We will do what is right to do."
Lieberman made these remarks at the annual conference of the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers at the Dan Hotel in Eilat.