Total shekel deposits reached a new record of NIS 237.9 billion.
2000 was the “Year of the Shekel”, and so far, there has not been movement from shekel to dollar instruments. Total shekel deposits – the “shekel mountain” grew last year by NIS 40.9 billion, reaching a record NIS 237.9 billion. This constitutes a 20.8% rise, following the 24.3% and 17.6% rises in 1999 and 1998, respectively, according to Bank of Israel figures.
The shekel mountain grew by NIS 5.3 billion in December 2000 and NIS 12 billion in the fourth quarter. Since the beginning of 1999, the shekel mountain has grown by an accumulative NIS 80 billion, despite the continuous decline in the interest rate by a cumulative 5.3%.
The shekel mountain has grown 2.8-fold – NIS 152.3 billion – in 1996-2000, and now constitutes a quarter of the public’s financial assets.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 10 January 2001