Israeli Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/Pool.

JNS.org – Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon praised his country’s economic advances on Thursday, saying, “It is safe to say that 2016 will be remembered as one of Israeli economy’s best years.”

Israel’s economy grew 4 percent in 2016, exceeding the average growth rate of 1.7 percent recorded by other member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to new data released by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

Israel’s gross national product stood at 2.5 percent in 2015 and 3.2 percent in 2014. The country’s business sector experienced 4.2 percent growth in 2016 compared to 2.3 percent in 2015, the bureau said.

The bureau added that Israel’s gross domestic product per capita has also grown. Private consumption of fixed-price goods and services increased 6.3 percent in 2016, after growing 4.3 percent in both 2015 and 2014. Overall, 2016 saw a 2-percent rise in fixed prices, which are unaffected by inflation rates, compared to 0.5-percent growth the previous year.

“The actions we have taken over the past two years have proven that there is no contradiction between having a free, responsible economy and helping the lower socio-economic echelons and the middle class. It used to be said that one can only do one or the other. Today we see that it is possible to do both,” Kahlon said.