been made, and we are still advancing in this direction. we are following the procedure for joining the oecd, and expect to become members this year. 4. finally, reform of the bank supervision in israel. there is a worldwide consensus that supervision reforms are necessary, and this applies to israel too, and it is important that we proceed rapidly in this area. in conclusion, i would summarize by saying that before i came to the bank of israel i set myself several objectives, not all of which have been achieved yet. the list included a new bank of israel law, a new wage agreement in the bank, and the structural reorganization of the bank. the reorganization that has taken place in the bank certainly helped it deal correctly with the crisis. other targets remain, albeit of somewhat less importance, but still worth mentioning : ( i ) to improve relations between the ministry of finance and the bank – we share responsibility for the health of the economy, and with two doctors caring for the same patient, it is important that they agree on the correct course of treatment ; ( ii ) to improve the level of public debate in israel, and there is plenty of room for improvement in that area.

in the oecd, for all levels of schooling, declined consistently up to recent years, reaching 70 percent in 2009. since then, there has been some increase and the share was about 75 percent in 2013. we do not have comparative data with oecd countries for the past 3 years, and in israel there was an increase in expenditure per student in most levels of education during those years. however, even if we make the extreme assumption that in the comparison countries the level of expenditure per student did not change at all in these years, expenditure per student would have reached 82 percent of the oecd average in 2016. against this background, the poor results of the israeli population on the piaac tests of basic skills — numeracy, literacy and writing, and problem solving in a digital environment — are not surprising ( nor are the results of the pisa tests, which i have shown on other occasions ). likewise, the gaps in achievements, as measured by the gini index of results, are almost the highest in the entire oecd. the connection between level of workers ’ wages in various countries, and the level of basic skills as measured by the piaac tests, are documented in the report, and present israel in an unflattering position, with a low average score, and accordingly a low wage level. wage inequality is also high for us, similar to the inequality in human capital level — both in the quantity of human capital as measured by years of schooling and even more so the inequality in the quality of human capital, as measured by gaps on basic skills tests. these findings with regard to the scope of civilian expenditure in israel, particularly related to the insufficient scope of investment in physical capital and human capital, are reflected in a low level 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches of infrastructures and of skills relevant to the 21st century labor market. significant and efficient investment in these areas is required in order to increase the productivity of all israeli citizens and is the key to increasing the potential growth of the economy and the standard of living of all of israel ’ s citizens, and the key to sustainable and inclusive growth. the robust macroeconomic situation presents precisely the opportunity to adopt such a policy. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches