This morning (12.1.2023), State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman opened the Annual Professional Conference of IIA Israel (Institute of Internal Auditors), and spoke about the cost of living, against the background of the plan presented last night by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich.
In his own words, "It is a known fact that this past year the entire world, including the State of Israel, has been suffering from spiraling inflation. This affects all of us and in particular the poor among us, as demonstrated by the Poverty Report which was published today.
I wish to say here that during recent months we are at the height of comprehensive audit work regarding the cost of living in the State of Israel.
Among other things, we are examining the State's preparedness for rampant inflation, the regulation of the dairy industry and the Israeli government's housing programs. These are in addition to the reports, which we have already published during the last few months regarding digital banking, competition in the vehicle industry and the monopolies in the food market.
I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich to rectify the deficiencies and adopt the recommendations we published in the audit reports to help lower the cost of living.
On the subject of inflation, we are examining how the State has conducted the preparations for the raging inflation, how it coped from the moment it erupted, we shall examine the effect of inflation on planning the annual budget, and we shall also include comparisons of how other countries in the world cope with inflation.
Inflation and the hikes in interest also have a direct effect on the mortgage repayments and the government's contractual engagements and this matter shall be examined.
On the matter of the high cost of housing - during 2022 we examined the activity of the Israel Land Authority concerning the planning and marketing of residential land. The audit included, among other things, implementation of the strategic plan for housing, urban renewal, relocating IDF bases from the center to the south, the length of time it took to deal with the plans at the planning committees, marketing and execution of transactions in residential land, and more.
Most of the audit was conducted at the Israel Land Authority. Supplementary examinations were made at the Planning Administration at the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Survey of Israel, the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister's Office and the Central Bureau of Statistics.
When I assumed the position of State Comptroller, I set myself the target of conducting audits from the viewpoint of the citizen and examining the problems in depth. The high cost of apartments also directly affects rental prices, and the report will deal with this".