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of more than 5 percent of gdp, the unemployment rate has dropped by about 4 percentage points, the rate of poverty is declining ( based on the absolute measure ), and so are tax rates. this is a huge success, which must be protected. at present, when uncertainty about global growth has risen, it is even more important for israel to maintain fiscal discipline. what is the government ’ s fiscal strategy? it set a rigid framework of discipline based on budget targets for its expenditure and the budget deficit, and it makes sure that it adheres to them. this greatly enhanced its credibility in the eyes of investors and in the domestic and international financial markets. the high level of the government ’ s credibility, combined with the success of its policy, led to the reduction of israel ’ s sovereign risk premium, the improvement of its credit rating, the oecd decision to invite israel to start the process of joining the organization, and the agreement of the us government to extend the guarantees. the result of the above is that the government and the business sector can borrow at reasonable cost. thus, yields to maturity on indexed government bonds have fallen from about 5 percent in 2003 to about 3 percent today. households, too, pay lower interest on their loans. for example, indexed interests on mortgages have fallen from an average of about 6 percent in 2003 to an average of about 4 percent currently. now, just prior to the approval of the 2008 budget by the knesset, and just after the government set its budget targets for next year, proposals are being made to abandon those targets. it would be very dangerous to accept these proposals. abandoning the targets set by the government itself is likely to severely undermine its credibility, and will cancel much of the progress that has been made. just now, when uncertainty about continued global growth has increased, we must not go back on our undertakings. i support the efforts of the minister of finance, with the backing of the prime minister, to ensure that the framework of the budget for 2008, based on the expenditure and deficit targets set by the government, will soon receive knesset approval. these efforts were certainly an important consideration that led to israel ’ s recently improved credit rating, and we should help the minister and the government as much as we can to make sure that their undertaking is implemented. the responsible way to increase expenditure on certain items is to alter the order of priorities in the budget, within the framework of the targets that have been set, and to implement them in conjunction