Bethel Finances: Shekel stable against dollar and euro

www.bethelfinance.com

The shekel is slightly stronger against the dollar and euro in inter-bank foreign currency trading today. The shekel dollar exchange rate is up 0.12% at NIS 3.722/$, and the shekel euro exchange rate is up 0.11% at 5.022/€.

Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.726/$, down 0.16% on the previous day's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 5.027/€, down 0.39%.

Also yesterday the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the third quarter growth rate in Israel was 3.4% on an annualized basis, slightly down from 3.5% in the preceding quarter of 2011, and sharply lower than the 4.7% in the first quarter of the year. Mr. Peres Sailam from Bethel Finance says "However, this is still a robust rate of growth, and appreciably higher than almost all other western economies. The most worrying figure was the 17% fall in exports in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter."

Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer told the Knesset Finance Committee that Israel is well placed to get through the current crisis in the euro zone but he urged European leaders to "wake up" and realize the extent of the situation.