More money for the 2024 budget: Minister of Regional Cooperation Dudi Amsalem and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich reached agreements according to which about NIS 2 billion in dividends of government companies will return to the state coffers. This followed Minister Amsalem's long opposition to the move.
According to a source in the Companies Authority, "What was important to Minister Amsalem was the stability of the government companies, which currently have very large debts to the state. Defense companies would do work for the state – the money would not have arrived on time, but the dividends were attracted by the state. The minister created a process of covering the debts that will be completed within a certain period of time, so he has no problem now transferring the dividends to the state coffers."
The publication comes after two months ago, State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman appealed to Muslim to withdraw NIS 2 billion from government companies for war expenses.
In a letter to the ministers and the Director of the Companies Authority, the Comptroller wrote, "In 2022, 11 government companies declared dividends totaling NIS 1.4 billion and announced their intention to distribute an additional NIS 600 million in 2023, i.e., a dividend distribution of NIS 2 billion cumulatively. Nevertheless, the aforementioned audit revealed that out of this total, only NIS 85 million was distributed from only one company."
He added in his letter: "An examination by the State Comptroller's Office shows that as of November 08, 11, the distribution of dividends from government companies has not yet been completed, so that the balance of the dividend declared by the government companies, which stands at close to NIS 2023 billion, has not yet entered the state treasury."
In addition to the issue of attracting dividends totaling two billion to the state treasury, the Comptroller also addressed the issues of staffing officials at this time.
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