Yacimovich says picture will look even worse when 1% VAT increase is taken into account; inflation rises by more than 1%.
By NADAV SHEMERLabor party chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Labor Party chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich on Sunday slammed the government over the August inflation figures, saying the picture would look even worse in a month when the 1-percentage point value-added tax increase is taken into account.On September 1, VAT rose to 17 percent.Inflation rose by more than 1% in August, to 106.2 points (based on 100.0 as the average for the consumer basket in 2010), the Central Bureau of Statistics reported over the weekend. The Consumer Price Index has risen by 2.1% since January 1.The largest price increases last month were for cigarettes (14.2%), fresh produce (7.9%), culture and entertainment (2%), transport (1.8%), housing (1.1%), food (0.9%) and furniture (0.6%). On the other hand, the price of clothing and footwear decreased by 6%, and of communications devices fell by 1.1%.Yacimovich argued that these figures and last week’s State Comptroller’s Report demonstrated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s “archaic economic policy, which has caused the loss of control over the price of housing, health, gasoline, pasta, cheese, fruit and vegetables.”She said that only Netanyahu was capable of creating a situation in which on one hand there was an economic slowdown and shrinkage in purchasing power, while on the other hand monthly inflation broke a 17- year record.State Comptroller Yosef Shapira on Wednesday slammed the Finance; Industry, Trade and Labor; and Agriculture ministries for failing to control skyrocketing food and dairy prices during the years 2005-2011.Yonah Jeremy Bob and Globes contributed to this report.
