Bethel Finance news:
The Bank of Israel decided Thursday morning to buy hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars after the shekel-dollar exchange rate dramatically dropped to 3.4 shekels per dollar, Israeli media reported.
The exchange rate increased up to 3.42 shekels for one dollar, 0.2 percent higher than Wednesday's representative rate, after what described by local business news site Globes as a "strong intervention in foreign exchange trading." However, the rate is still at its lowest since September 2008.
The purchase of U.S. dollar to keep up its value against the shekel has been one of the most controversial policies of the central bank. It is especially unpopular among the companies in the Israeli export sector, as they have seen the value of their exports fall.
During last month, the shekel was appreciated against the dollar by 3.9 percent. The reason was the global weakening of the dollar worldwide, a statement from the Bank of Israel read.
The dollar-purchase policy also boosts Israel's foreign exchange reserves, which at the end of March 2011 stood at 74,526 million U.S. dollars, according to the bank's reports.
Goldman Sachs, the investment and banking firm, published a review on Thursday foreseeing Shekel-Dollar exchange rates of 3.52 in three months, according the Globes.
No comments:
Post a Comment