Netanyahu to offer Fischer second term

Sources inform "Globes" that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today decided to offer Prof. Stanley Fischer a second term as Governor of the Bank of Israel. The prime minister's office confirmed the report.

Netanyahu was expected to offer Fischer a second term but until now the prime minister has steadfastly refused to relate to the issue. Netanyahu's decision comes as the Bank of Israel Law is about to be passed, possibly this week. Head of the Knesset Finance Committee Moshe Gafni MK (United Torah Judaism) said that the prime minister had asked him to complete the legislation before the Passover recess on March 18.

Fischer himself is under pressure, mainly from his wife Rhoda, to return to the US where his children live. Yet it is still believed that Fischer will stay on for another year or two, and will not leave when there are still fears that the global recession is not over. Fischer ends his first five-year term in May.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 9, 2010

Netanyahu to offer Fischer second term

Despite family pressure to leave, Stanley Fischer is expected to stay on at the Bank of Israel.