The Ministry of Finance is expected to present an improved outline of assistance to the economy, which according to assessments will be similar to the plan formulated by Economy Minister Nir Barkat. There are expected to be improvements in business expenses in respect of employees' wages, assistance to small businesses, and more.
It appears that according to the new outline, businesses with an annual turnover of up to NIS 300 million will be able to demand reimbursement of fixed expenses and payment for employees' salaries up to a ceiling of NIS 600,300, compared with NIS 80,60 in the previous outline. In addition, the state participation grant in employee salary expenses will be increased, and will be calculated according to <>% of the cost of wages multiplied by the rate of decline in turnover, compared with <>% in the previous outline.
The Seven Stars Mall in Herzliya is empty // Photo: Coco // The Seven Stars Mall in Herzliya is empty // Photo: Coco,
If that happens, it would be good news for the economy. There is a broad consensus among businesses, Knesset members, and labor organizations that the outline presented by the Ministry of Finance needs many improvements. In contrast, Barkat's outline, which he has been working on for the past two weeks, has received broad support, including from the Governor of the Bank of Israel.
Barkat's plan is more generous for businesses, and it allows for flexible unpaid leave so that businesses can continue to employ employees. It is true that in times of emergency it is important to maintain budgetary discipline and tighten the belt, and government spending on fighting and rehabilitating the surrounding communities is already skyrocketing. But Barkat was right when he said that an aid program to help businesses survive is an investment, not an expense.
Everyone wants the good of the state – finance officials, Economy Ministry personnel and representatives of the business sector. But it is said cautiously that the people in the Budget Department who worked on the plan, and whose dignity rests in their place, do not have business experience like Ron Tomer, Roy Cohen, Dubi Amitai, Shahar Turgeman and all the others who recently took center stage and who strongly oppose the Finance Ministry's plan.
Don't spare on the needy
Barkat is right in his statements: Even if more is given, it will return to the state in income tax. In other words, you don't save on businesses and civilians during the war – you do need and must save on other things, such as coalition funds.
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, photo: Paul Jonathan Zindel/Flash90
Since the publication of the Ministry of Finance's plan, a problematic dynamic has arisen: many businesses have already begun putting tens of thousands of people on unpaid leave, because the Ministry of Finance's outline does not adequately indemnify them for wages. The number of those placed on unpaid leave is expected to increase from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and the problem is that many workers will not be entitled to unemployment benefits at all, because the conditions for receiving them are very restrictive – a period of unpaid leave of at least 30 days, utilization of the entire accumulated vacation balance, an eligibility period of 12 months, and more.
If the Ministry of Finance does not present a serious improvement in the aid outline and continues to entrench itself in attempts to save, there will also be quite a few businesses that will go bankrupt.
If the state gives the business only half the amount it needs to survive, the business will collapse, and the state not only did not save here, but even threw the money in the trash. The attempt to save on businesses and citizens will lead to an increase in the number of unemployed and an increase in bankruptcies, and in the end it will cost more to the state coffers.
But most importantly, after the disaster that struck us on 7 October, the government must never again lose people's faith in it. Having been abandoned in the security arena, it is forbidden to abandon businesses and citizens in the economic arena. It is inconceivable that during the war the civilians will remain abandoned.
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