JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel's public debt-to-GDP ratio dropped to 70.3 percent in 2021 from 71.7 percent in 2020, the Israeli Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.
The ratio remained above the pre-pandemic 60 percent recorded in 2019, which is also a prudential upper limit required in the Treaty on European Union.
The annual figures published by Israel's Accountant-General Yali Rothenberg showed that the government's debt rate decreased to 68.5 percent of GDP in 2021, compared with 70.2 percent in 2020.
The ministry attributed the debt ratio decline to economic growth, government tax revenues increase, privatizations, and appreciation of the Israeli shekel against major currencies.
"It is important to return to the outline of a decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio in the coming years, in order to maintain fiscal flexibility and support the country's credit rating," Rothenberg said. ■
