IsRAEL 1DIGEsir
Rising 4-Year Costs*
Specially compiled by The Jerusalem Post
$1 EQUALS 2.9710 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 6/20/95 —
200000
$175,832
Private Average
$160,833
U of M (Ann Arbor)
150000
Public Average
100000
$64,329
$45,438
50000
$58,841
$41,562
May Price Index Jumped 1 Percent
Jerusalem — May's Consumer Statistics price division direc-
Price Index jumped 1 percent, tor Rahamim Ozama.
taking most economists by sur-
Since the beginning of the
prise, as moderating housing year prices have risen 2.2 pe•-
prices suddenly shot up in re- cent. "This is a moderate in-
action to last month's devalua- crease compared to previous
tion of the shekel against the years," said Mr. Ozarna.
dollar.
The consistent revaluation
May's index was the highest of the shekel against the dollar
this year. Based on the index- this month will most likely ex-
es in the first five months of the ert downward pressure on the
year, annual inflation is now June index, as prices of hous-
estimated at 5.5 percent, ac- ing and other dollar-linked
cording to Central Bureau of products will moderate.
Job Seekers Increase Numbers
0
4 Years
Today
* tuition and living expenses
Projected Costs
In 7 Years
Projected Costs
In 17 Years
estimates provided by Prudential Securities
For the youngster starting college in the year
2003, the four-year costs will be lower than in 2013
($58,841 is the Prudential estimate for U-M), but
the time will be shorter to accrue that money. Mr.
Levy says $33,314 invested today at 6 percent would
achieve the goal. So would $428 per month start-
ing now, or $604 per month starting in two years.
Of course, you don't have to put as much in if you
can achieve higher rates of return.
Howard Rosen also suggests considering plac-
ing securities into a custodial account under the
Uniform Gift to Minors Act or Uniform Transfers
to Minors Act. Generally, the student will pay a
lower tax rate than dear old mom and dad. There
are limitations, and he advises that a tax adviser
should be consulted.
Other experts warn that you and Junior may not
want to cash in any investment immediately when
the tuition bills start to loom. Financial aid from the
schools is based on college costs, your income and as-
sets and the number of children you have in school.
Even families with six-figure incomes may qualify
for scholarships or subsidized loans if more than one
family member is matriculating at the same time.
And, the experts admonish, you may want to
keep that nest egg tucked away if the schools will
give you scholarships and loans. El
See Related Story, page 80
The Housing Crunch
And The Government
H
who wanted to buy a home at
the recent national housing
fair in Israel went away dis-
appointed, knowing they will not be
able to purchase an apartment any-
time soon because of the high prices.
More than 25 real estate com-
panies exhibited thousands of
apartments from 150 sites across
the country at the five-day fair,
held at the Israel Building Cen-
ter in Ramat Aviv.
The people who actually
bought were mainly over 40 and
already homeowners. Most of
those in search of a first home left
the fair with attractive prospec-
tuses and expensive price lists.
"There wasn't even one apart-
ment below $90,000. We are el-
igible for a government mortgage
of up to $30,000. Where will we
get the rest of the money from?"
many of the young couples asked.
Yet, reasonably priced hous-
ing can be found not so far away
from the center of the country. In
Ashkelon, a one-hour drive from
Tel Aviv, new three-room new
apartments are available for
$90,000 -$140,000.
people who have registered at
Employment Service offices
throughout the country.
Some 16,900 academics
looked for jobs in May, as did a
similar number in April. How-
ever, there was a 3 percent in-
crease in the number of
nonacadetnics seeking work.
There was no change in the
proportion of women job-seek-
ers (54.3 percent), or those un-
der 35 (54.8 percent).
Laser Industries Gets Clearance
Jerusalem — Laser Industries,
the manufacturer of medical
laser systems and accessories,
has received marketing clear-
ance from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration for its
Sharplan Sight TM system.
The system is an intraoper-
ative laparoscopic ultrasound
designed to assist surgeons and
gynecologists in detecting var-
ious pathologies during la-
paroscopic surgery.
The company said the FDA
clearance completes the imple-
mentation of one phase of its
strategy to develop several non-
laser products for the mini-
mally invasive surgical (MIS)
market.
According to Laser Indus-
tries chairman Berkjamin Givli,
the MIS market is a multibil-
lion dollar market.
The systems will be market-
ed and sold through the com-
pany's worldwide distribution
network.
Approval Sought For MS Drug
GAUT LIPKIS BECK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
undreds of young couples
Jerusalem — The number of
job-seekers continued to climb
last month, reaching 109,400,
or a 3.6 percent rise over April,
the Labor and Social Affairs
Ministry announced.
Labor and Social Affairs
Minister Ora Namir expressed
concern over the figures, but at-
tributed the increase to an in-
flux of foreign laborers.
Since the beginning of the
year, there has been a 12.5 per-
cent increase in the number of
Shimon Mor-Yosef, an
Ashkelon resident who founded
an organization to protect and
improve young couples' housing
situation, says many couples are
taking very high mortgages and
loans from the.banks which they
will not be able to pay back.
"If I want to buy an apartment
for $90,000, I have to take upon
myself to return about $700 to
the banks each month. Very few
families can undertake such an
obligation," says Mr. Mor-Yosef.
According to a Housing Min-
HOUSING CRUNCH page 34
Jerusalem — Teva Pharma-
ceutical Industries recently an-
nounced it has submitted a new
application to the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration seek-
ing approval to market Copoly-
mer-1, used in the treatment of
relapsing-remitting multiple
sclerosis.
Teva intends to market the
drug worldwide under the
brand name Copaxone. The
company plans to submit the
product for approval in Israel
next month and later this year
in Europe.
In an announcement to the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Teva
said, "Receiving approval to
market Copaxone is expected
to have a significant influence
on the group's activities and the
group's results."
Eli Hurvitz, president and
chief executive officer of Teva
said, "Based on the results of
pivotal clinical studies and en-
couraging reactions from the
neurological community, we
are confident that Copaxone
will become a sought-after
treatment bringing new hope
to relapsing-remitting MS pa-
tents."
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