NEW MOF DG ARIAV REMAINS COMMITTED TO FISCAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000510 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/FO FOR DANIN; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS, SHAMPAINE, BELGRADE, ZIMMER; EB/IFD FOR GARRY; NSC FOR ABRAMS, DORON, WATERS: DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR: SDONNELLY AND ESAUMS; TREASURY FOR HIRSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2017 TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD EAIR KWBG IS SUBJECT: NEW MOF DG ARIAV REMAINS COMMITTED TO FISCAL RESTRAINT Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Director General of the Ministry of Finance Yarom Ariav told the Ambassador that he is interested in pushing forward with reforms to Israel's energy, education and land administrations during his tenure. Ariav said that the aim of Hirchson's tax reform plan is to increase participation in the labor market; a metric where Israel lags behind the OECD average by seven percentage points. Hirchson's reforms include establishing a negative income tax, obligatory pension contributions, greater supervision of minimum wage requirements, increasing child care subsidies, and increasing the tax on corporate vehicles leased to benefit employees. Overall, these reforms are expected to cost the GOI a net NIS 1.2 billion (USD 284 million) annually, but Ariav emphasized this will not cause Israel to break fiscal restraint as the economy grows. The Ambassador asked Ariav to support U.S. efforts aimed at increasing transparency in government tenders and liberalizing the civil aviation market, offering to pass along U.S. position papers on both topics. The Ambassador suggested that the U.S. and Israel work together on creative ideas in advance of the proposed meeting on the future of U.S. assistance, to determine where the USG can assist Israeli reformers by establishing conditionalities for future aid grants. Finally, the Ambassador suggested that increasing operating hours at the Karni crossing would not only improve the economic situation in Gaza, but would also help counter the corruption. End summary. -------------- -------------- PROPOSED REFORMS TO BE FINANCED BY CONTINUED ECONOMIC GROWTH -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Ariav opened the meeting by reviewing recent reforms announced by the Minister of Finance. Ariav said the reforms are aimed at increasing participation in the labor market; a metric where Israel lags behind the OECD average. Some aspects of the plan include: -- Instituting a negative income tax to be implemented over a three-year period at a final cost of NIS 900 million per year once fully implemented. Ariav explained that the roll out of the program would be targeted by geographical areas and would begin in cities where unemployment is highest. --Introducing obligatory pensions, the exact costs of which have not been determined. The pensions will benefit the Israeli poor who are employed but do not receive a pension as part of their employment benefits. Ariav said that he believed the private sector will work with the government to implement a mandatory pension, because businesses realize that if they do not participate in the implementation, it will cost them more in the end. --Increased enforcement of labor laws; to include increased enforcement of the minimum wage. --Immediate increases in child care subsidies to triple the current rate of spending, thereby allowing more women with children to work. The price tag for increasing child care subsidies will be NIS 200 million per year. --Changing the tax structure, this will include increasing the tax on company cars and decreasing income tax for the middle class. The tax on company cars will increase according to Ariav, &to reflect the real benefit, as companies have used low cost car leases as a substitute for salaries.8 ¶3. (C) Ariav said that these reforms have to be considered as a package, and that the Bank of Israel supported the reforms. The MoF expects to be able finance part of the cost of the reform from the increased tax revenues on company cars, but estimates the net total cost of the program once fully implemented (in three years) will be NIS 1.2 billion per year. However, Ariav was quick to state that this increase in spending would not impact fiscal discipline since the GOI expected growth over the next three years to compensate for the increased spending and leave total deficit numbers unchanged. His biggest worry was that the tax authority does not currently have the personnel or computers necessary to carry out the sweeping reforms a negative income tax will require. Ariav predicted a battle in the Knesset over the reforms, but claimed that coalition partner Shas also supported the measures. -------------- -------------- ENERGY, EDUCATION, LAND REFORMS UNDER CONSIDERATION -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Ariav described other changes that he would like to implement in his tenure as director general. On the energy front Ariav said that the GOI will continue with the privatization of Israel,s oil refineries but the next major government company that needed to be privatized was Israel Electric Company (IEC). The idea is to first split IEC into different companies and then do separate privatization deals for the different parts. He predicted that major reform in the education system, both primary and higher, will occur in the next two years. Ariav worried that pressure from the teachers unions would result in higher wages, but not any of the other reforms recommended by the Dovrat Commission. Finally, Ariav noted that land reform was needed as the current system of government distribution of land created a bureaucratic nightmare for business. -------------- -------------- AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR INCREASED COOPERATION WITH MOF -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) The Ambassador highlighted two areas where the U.S. would like increased engagement with the MOF; Open Skies (civil aviation market liberalization) and increasing transparency in government tenders. Ariav was open to U.S. ideas about establishing a central database for government tenders and establishing an ombudsman to assist private companies in navigating the bidding process. He said that some politicians felt that too many public purchases were subject to tenders and that tendering slows down the work of a government. Ariav reiterated the strong support of the MoF for Open Skies and said that new antitrust regulations which are being applied to the airlines have changed the way that civil aviation is handled in Israel. ¶6. (C) The Ambassador encouraged Ariav to work closely with the Embassy in advance of the upcoming bilateral meeting in Washington on security assistance to determine the best way to enable the U.S. to continue encouraging reform in Israel. Ariav agreed and said that it is important to include Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer in this process. ¶7. (C) The Ambassador briefed Ariav on the current situation at the Karni crossing and asked for MoF assistance in expanding the working hours. The Ambassador noted that when Karni is closed, the chances for corruption increase because truck drivers are able to sell their place in line to the highest bidder. He explained that increasing capacity will help eliminate corruption when there are sufficient staff shifts to process containers all day. -------------- BIO NOTE -------------- ¶8. (C) Ariav served at the Ministry of Finance as Deputy Director of the Budget from 1985-1993. He has worked most recently at a recently privatized fertilizer company, Israel Chemical Fertilizers, as their director for European sales. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES