The foreign currency credit balance increased by $530 million in the first two weeks of 1999.
The increase in foreign currency bank credit has resumed, following the foreign currency market calm and the widening gaps between shekel interest in Israel and overseas interest rates. Since the beginning of the year, the foreign currency credit balance has risen by a sharp $530 million, or 2.9%, amounting to $19.07 billion in mid-January. This emerges from bank data that reached "Globes" today.
The business sector’s resumption of foreign currency credit taking was one of the main factors in the sharp revaluation of the shekel in recent weeks. This increase followed a 1.5% downslide of $300 million in foreign currency credit in the last two months of 1998. The foreign currency decrease was due to the sharp fluctuations on the foreign currency market, which led to positions being closed and exposure to exchange rate risks being reduced.
Published by Israel's Business Arena January 18, 1999