BoI bought $3b foreign currency in May as shekel gains

Shekel-dollar ASAP Creative
Shekel-dollar ASAP Creative

The Bank of Israel has now bought $22 billion in foreign currency since the start of 2021.

The Bank of Israel has reported that it bought $2.994 billion in foreign currency in May as the foreign exchange reserves rose to a record $198.35 billion (48.3% of GDP).

The Bank of Israel has now bought $22 billion in foreign currency since the start of 2021, having announced in January that it would buy $30 billion in foreign currency in all of 2021 to moderate the strengthening of the shekel. However, the Bank of Israel has since indicated that its foreign currency purchasing program will likely exceed $30 billion in 2021.

Despite the heavy forex purchases, the shekel is trading at its strongest levels against the dollar since January. The Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar exchange rate down 0.246% today at NIS 3.243/$, and set the shekel-euro rate down 0.048% at NIS 3.951/€.

Over the past 12 months, Israel's foreign currency reserves have risen from $142.5 billion to $198.35 billion, while the shekel has strengthened nearly 8% from NIS 3.502/$ to NIS 3.243/$.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 8, 2021

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021

Shekel-dollar ASAP Creative
Shekel-dollar ASAP Creative
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