(Business Week) - Neal Sandler Ordinary Israelis are fairly calm about the prospect of an attack. They're more worried that the war could spark an increase in terrorist incidents in Israel. They're also concerned about the conflict's likely fallout on their troubled economy. Even without the war, Israel is already deep into its worst recession in history. The economy is expected to shrink for the third consecutive year in 2003 and unemployment has climbed to more than 10%. A report by Business Data Israel (BDI), a Tel Aviv-based forecasting outfit, estimates that the war in Iraq could cost the economy $1 billion, or nearly 1% of GDP. With the economy reeling, Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled an emergency economic program on Mar. 17. The plan includes $2.2 billion in budget cuts, firing thousands of government workers, and an average 8% wage cut for the rest. Netanyahu also promised to embark on a massive sell-off of state-owned companies such as El Al, Bezeq Telecommunications, Oil Refineries Ltd., and Israel Electric. If Israel has been hurting, the Palestinians are in even worse shape.
2003-03-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive