We will spend more:
January 1st is coming, and the price increases that have started to be felt in the last year are going to be sharper.
Starting tomorrow, electricity will become more expensive by 8.2%, the water rate by 3.5%, the property tax rate by 1.4% and fuel by 9 EG per liter, this is in addition to the increases in the price of the supermarket which will continue to increase, and for some of the public also the rent.
The Electric Company, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
And what's more - tomorrow the Bank of Israel is expected to raise the interest rate by a quarter or half a percent, so mortgages will also continue to become more expensive.
These price increases directly affect almost every area of daily life and cause "life itself" to become more expensive.
A cafe next to the house has raised prices, the neighborhood manicurist will increase the price of her services, a birthday party operator charges 25% more than last year, the parking lot subscription has become more expensive by tens of percent, and the prices of children's sports clothes have also gone up.
For everyone, the list is different, but long, and sometimes especially annoying - if your salary has not increased accordingly.
So while most of the public criticism is directed at the large companies, which raise the prices of milk and tuna by a few percentages and further report it in the media, the cost of living also affects the small businesses - which, as mentioned, also had to raise prices, and in most cases it is not a matter of a few percentages.
Is the solution on the way?
We note that in the coalition agreements of the new government, which was sworn in last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promises that were given during the election campaign regarding the freezing of the "inflation generators" - electricity, water and property tax rates (while indemnifying the local authorities for not updating the property tax) were included.
It is also written that the freezing of fuel prices and products under supervision will be examined.
Bezalel Smotrich, photo: Hillel Meir / Flash90
In the meantime, there are reasons to be optimistic at least when it comes to the willingness of the new government to address the wave of price increases and the cost of living.
It seems that the incoming finance minister and religious Zionist chairman Bezalel Smotrich is not wasting precious time, and last Thursday, just before the swearing in of the government, he met with the president of the Industrialists' Association Ron Tomer.
During the meeting, Smotrich expressed his willingness to implement the promises regarding the freezing of the prices of basic services.
"We have a finance minister who is attentive to the private sector, attentive to business, and wants cooperation. There seems to be a very positive direction, and 90% of things we see eye to eye. His very willingness to work together is a very important message for the Israeli economy," Tomer said.
A shopping cart in a supermarket.
Many prices have become more expensive, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Will the electricity tariff be frozen?
In the meantime, work on a plan to lower the cost of living has already begun, according to the Marciano Foundation's report in the Friday studio.
The plan is expected to include the following sections: distribution of food stamps for the weakest strata, increased negative income tax for low-wage earners, addition of credit points for the middle class, a 20% increase in soldiers' wages, a reduction in payment for education frameworks at the ages of 0-3.
The plan is supposed to be presented as part of the 2023 budget, which is expected to be submitted to the government within about a month and a half.
In addition to this, according to the report, discussions have begun between the professional ranks regarding the freezing of electricity rates, the increase of which constitutes a significant addition to the monthly expenditure of households and the business sector.
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