Israel’s Emergence From Lockdown Mapped Out by Finance Ministry

(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s Ministry of Finance proposed a framework for re-opening the country’s economy that would see restrictions on malls and universities lifted as soon as this week.

The timetable publicized on Sunday would speed up the country’s exit from its nearly two-month-long closure, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imposed a near total shutdown to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Key Insights

• Under the proposed plan, parks and nature reserves would also open this week, and early childhood education would restart next week. Some hotels, markets and gyms would be able to open in mid-May.
• At the end of this month, public spaces such as event halls, movie theaters and restaurants would be able to resume operation, while activities not specified in the plan would have to wait until mid-June.
• The set of proposals doesn’t mark the end of discussions, since the Finance Ministry is considered more eager to exit the lockdown than Health Ministry officials; the final decision is up to the cabinet.
• Israel’s economy has taken a heavy hit from the coronavirus pandemic, with one measure of unemployment rising to more than 27%, while the central bank expects gross domestic product to contract 5.3% this year.

Get More

• For more details on how Israel is dealing with the economic damage brought on by the coronavirus, read our story on the central bank’s latest interest-rate decision. And here is a story on how many job losses are expected to last past the pandemic.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.