Israel’s Treasury reported on Wednesday evening on steps that were taken by the Treasury in order to cut back on the rise in prices across the country. Among other steps, the Israeli government is pushing off the tax increase on coal in an effort to lower the costs of electricity across the country. As a result of this cutback, the expected increase in cost of electricity to the consumer will now be only 5.5 percent instead of 8 percent.

As a first stage, the Treasury will forgo a tax on coal beginning in February. The rate of the tax that will be forgiven is between 46- 102 shekel per ton of coal. This new tax was expected to raise the price of electricity by 2 percent across the country. A similar increase happened in 2012 and in that instance as well the Treasury forgave the tax hike to delay an increase in electrical price by the consumer.

Israel’s Electric Company announced that due to the Treasury’s lessening of taxes on the fuel sources that are used to create electricity, there will also be a lessening of the cost increase that is coming at the beginning of 2019. “It won’t be a complete discount but a scaled back to the regular tariff increase.”

Other expected price hikes that the Treasury succeeded at preventing in the past few weeks include; the price of Osem products, the price of Strauss products, the price of white bread and sliced white bread, and dairy products considered “basic” or essential products.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)