Friday 30 May 2003 Israel Budget  | The Israeli parliament has finally approved more than two-billion dollars worth of cuts in public spending. The controversial package was passed with a fifty-to-one majority – but only because opposition parties decided to boycott the vote. Our reporter is Alex Ritson. |
 Listen to the story There is no doubt that Israel's public finances are serious trouble. The Government has been spending an increasing amount of money on the military since the start of the Palestinian uprising two-and-a-half years ago. At the same time, the amount it raises through taxation is dwindling after three years of recession. The net result is a shortfall – or budget deficit – which is rapidly approaching five percent of the value of all the goods and services traded in the country in a whole year.
Some of that shortfall can be made up by Government borrowing - but finding international lenders prepared to put up the cash is becoming increasingly difficult. The United States is prepared to guarantee nine-billion dollars worth of Israeli Government borrowing – but that's conditional on these enormous spending cuts being put into place. Listen to the words an increasing amount more and more raises makes, obtains dwindling shrinking recession a period of time when a county’s economy is not very successful shortfall less than you need budget deficit the amount of money reserved by a country that is less than the money spent traded bought and sold borrowing taking cash with the intention of returning it with interest to put up the cash to provide the money cuts reductions  Read more about this story | |  | | | SEARCH IN LEARNING ENGLISH | | | |
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