Treasury chief demands economy reopen

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Ministry of Finance director general Ilan Rom has demanded that the economy reopen to activity tomorrow in a letter sent today to Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper, simultaneously.

Rom said the cost of shutting down the economy within the framework of the current restrictions is roughly NIS 9.5 billion per week, with the restrictions due to stay in place until at least Saturday.

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Rom wrote, «It is necessary to find a solution that provides a response to both the security needs of the home front and the economic needs of the economy, and even more so after about two and a half years in which the economy is paying a heavy economic price due the increase in defense needs and the broader consequences of the war.» Rom wrote that the Ministry of Finance believes that the economy should begin moving to a gradual opening as early as tomorrow (Thursday). «Within the framework of the defense policy under the ‘orange’ status, economic activity is permitted subject to close proximity to a protected area only, and this in parallel with the continuation of the ban on the activity of educational institutions, so that the core principle requiring being in protected areas is maintained. However, in activity under this status, the weekly cost to the economy is only about NIS 4.5 billion, which is less than half the economic cost of activity under the ‘red’ status.»

These figures are based on estimates by the Ministry of Finance chief economist’s department, which prepared a study in recent days. According to that study, in a situation where the activity taking place is only necessary activity («red» status), the economy loses about NIS 8 billion on the sectoral shutdown of entire sectors in the economy, to which are added the increases from the shutdown of the education system (about NIS 800 million) and the costs of the army reserves (about NIS 500 million).

In contrast, in the transition from necessary activity to limited activity (transition from «red» status to «orange»), the loss due to the shutdown of industry activity was cut to NIS 2.4 billion. The shutdown of the education system adds about NIS 1.2 billion, and reservists add about NIS 600 million.

Published by Globes, Israel business news — en.globes.co.il — on March 4, 2026.