JERUSALEM: Israel registered a budget deficit of 16.6 billion shekels ($4.5 billion) in November, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday, citing a jump in expenses to fund Israeli aggression against Gazans.

As a percentage of GDP, the deficit over the previous 12 months rose to 3.4 per cent in November — 62.3 billion shekels — from 2.6pc in October, it said.

A ministry source said the deficit for 2023 would finish at about 4pc of GDP, above a target of 0.9pc, or 16.9 billion shekels, in the budget approved by lawmakers in May.

The ministry noted that revenue fell by 15.6pc last month, partly because of tax deferments resulting from the unrest that began on Oct 7.

November revenue was 30.3 billion shekels, the lowest monthly level this year. For the first 11 months of the year, revenue reached 401.5 billion shekels, 6.2pc lower than the same period last year.

Overall, due to the offensive on Gaza is expected to weigh on growth in 2023 and 2024. The ministry and central bank project growth of 2pc this year and 1.6pc and 2pc respectively in 2024.

Expenses reached nearly 47 billion shekels, with about 6 billion attributable to the Israeli aggression, helping to push up January-November spending by 11.5pc to 445.3 billion shekels.

Israel’s deficit in October was 22.9 billion shekels and in November 2022 it was 1.7 billion shekels.

Last week parliament gave its initial nod to budget for aggression against Gazans that would add more than 30 billion shekels to spending on the unrest for the rest of 2023. The plan still requires final approval.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2023