The shekel is strengthening today against the dollar and against the euro. In early afternoon inter-bank trading the shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 0.48% against the dollar at NIS 3.251/$ and down 0.24% against the euro at NIS 3.920/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate 0.488% lower from Friday, at NIS 3.265/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.061% higher, at NIS 3.929/€.
The Bank of Israel has already bought nearly half of the $30 billion that it announced in January that it would buy in 2021, in order to halt the strong appreciation of the shekel in 2020. Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron has previously started that the program could exceed $30 billion.
But yesterday came the first formal announcement that this is the case, after the Bank of Israel kept the interest rate unchanged at an historic low of 0.1%. The Bank of Israel said, "The Monetary Committee’s decision on its foreign exchange purchase program for 2021, at an unprecedented scope of $30 billion, supports the continued exit from the crisis and the goal of returning inflation to within its target range. We will continue to implement this program as we announced, and will even expand it if necessary, in accordance with economic conditions and development."
Despite this statement the shekel continues to strengthen today.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 20, 2021
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