The Bank of Israel reports that housing credit rose by 5.2%, in January-May 2011, to NIS 246 billion. Total household debt rose NIS 351 billion at the end of May.
Housing credit rose by 1.4%, or NIS 3.5 billion, in May, out of a total increase of NIS 5 billion in household debt.
Business sector debt rose by 0.4%, or NIS 3 billion, in May, to NIS 750 billion. The Bank of Israel attributes the increase to 1.2% depreciation of the shekel and a 0.5% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in May.
In June, the business sector (excluding banks and insurance companies) issued NIS 4 billion of debt, mostly tradable bonds. The business sector issued NIS 18 billion in debt in the first half of the year, 80% which was tradable bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Business sector issues averaged NIS 3 billion per month in the first half.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 24, 2011
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