The members of the Israeli Economist Forum issued a statement Sunday morning on the downgrading of Israel's credit rating outlook from "positive" to "stable", and attacked the response of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich, who claimed: "The economy will remain stable". Among the senior officials who backed the Forum's statement was the former governor of the Bank of Israel, Prof. Jacob Frankel.
The officials in the statement noted that the government boasts about the achievements of the previous government and "adds to this boasting unsubstantiated promises that have been repeated and made for many years, and above all it ignores the content of the warning."
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Smotrich on Moody's negative decision regarding Israel's credit rating projection: "With the help of God Israel's economy will stay stable and strong" #Not_the_onion
โ Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 15, 2023
According to them, "The praise recorded in the report on the resilience of Israeli democracy specifically referred to the strength of civil society's opposition to the coalition's dangerous measures, and it is strange that Smotrich and Netanyahu chose to be proud of this as well. The positive points in the report concerned the ability of Israeli society to oppose the government's measures, and all the negative points concerned the government's plans."
At the same time, the officials referred to the response of the Prime Minister and Smotrich, who claimed that the economy will remain stable. โPrudent management and they say it in a way that is not ambiguous."
Netanyahu, Smotrich reject Moody's criticisms โ https://t.co/ak0F4ZycoS
โ GlobesEnglish (@GlobesEnglish) April 16, 2023
It was also noted: "As can be seen from the two attached charts, since the government was established, the stock markets in Israel have shown significant underperformance compared to the stock markets in the US, and the lack of trust in the Israeli government has led to a sharp increase in the risk premium on the debt of the State of Israel, as reflected in the price of the contracts Israel's CDS (contracts used as default insurance). Instead of sabotage, we expect the country's leadership to shelve its failed plan and return to the ground of reality."
"Israel's economy is stable and God willing will remain so. Moody's concern is natural for those who don't know the strength of Israeli society," say Netanyahu & Smotrich.
โ Noga Tarnopolsky ื ืื ืืจื ืืคืืืกืงื ููุบุง ุชุฑููุจููุณูู (@NTarnopolsky) April 15, 2023
AKA: Its you, not us. pic.twitter.com/Vpt4iB63Zw
As mentioned, following Moody's announcement that Israel's credit rating was downgraded from a positive outlook to stable, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich said Saturday night that "Israel's economy is stable and solid and, with God's help, it will remain so." They also claimed that the concern raised by the analysts of Moody's is natural "for those who do not know the resilience of Israeli society". At the same time, another senior official in the government said of Moody's announcement: "It is unpleasant, but not terrible."
