Israel More Than Doubles Fund to Lessen Economic Impact of Virus

(Bloomberg) -- Israel added 6 billion shekels ($1.7 billion) to a fund to help businesses weather the impact of the coronavirus.

That brings the amount of government-guaranteed loans businesses can draw on to 10 billion shekels. Israel has identified 76 patients with the virus, and none have died. The government has ordered tens of thousands of residents into 2-week quarantine and recently ordered all foreign visitors to enter an equal amount of time in isolation. The Finance Ministry now sees a 0.5% hit to gross domestic product this year, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg this week.

The government will take further measures next week if the spread of the virus doesn’t stabilize by then, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said at a press conference on Wednesday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ivan Levingston in Tel Aviv at ilevingston@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Yaacov Benmeleh at ybenmeleh@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel

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