"In addition to buying government bonds, the Bank of Israel is considering buying corporate bonds via the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) bond indices," said Israel Securities Authority chairman Zohar Goshen. The measure would be part of the agencies' efforts, together with the Ministry of Finance, to revive the non-bank credit market. He made the comment during a press conference today, where he outlined the Securities Authority's targets for the year.
Goshen supports the Bank of Israel's intention to buy government and corporate bonds. He explained, "The country needs to be in a position where there is sufficient marketability and liquidity to solve the credit problem. This does not mean that the government should buy the bonds of a particular company, but it is our job to provide mechanisms and tools for dealing with the problem."
Goshen added that the idea to buy corporate bonds was raised by the joint brainstorming team of the Securities Authority, Bank of Israel, and the Ministry of Finance.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 4, 2009
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