The Bank of Israel today announced a change in the way it reports its interest rate decision to the public. The decision by the Bank of Israel Monetary Committee is reported to the public at a press conference and published in a fixed format on the Bank of Israel website. The format of the announcements published to date has two parts: a broad general description of the background conditions considered by the Monetary Committee in its decision and a single page listing the main factors in the decision.
A summary of the discussions by the Monetary Committee before its decision is published two weeks after the decision is taken. As the Bank of Israel announced last September 20, eight interest rate decisions a year are now being made.
According to the Bank of Israel's announcement, starting with its next interest rate decision, the format of its press release will be changed. The new format will be shorter, and will present the economic situation as perceived by the Monetary Committee during the discussions it conducted for the purpose of its interest rate decision. The press release will begin with a few sentences summarizing the economic situation, followed by a review of the situation at greater length. The description of the changes in the economic variables since the preceding decision (the background conditions) will be replaced by a separate file published together with the press release that will include charts and tables containing the main data presented by the Bank of Israel departments to the Monetary Committee during the Bank of Israel discussion in a large forum before the decision. This format is consistent with the lower frequency of the decisions, and gives more weight to an analysis of the fundamental trends.
The summary of the Monetary Committee's discussions published two weeks after the interest rate decision will contain only a report of the discussions held by the committee in a limited forum for the purpose of the decision.
Governor of the Bank of Israel Dr. Karnit Flug explained today, "We are constantly examining how to improve the communication of monetary policy to the public and how to make it clearer and more transparent. As part of this effort, we began holding quarterly press briefings two years ago regarding monetary policy. The change in the structure of the notice is another step intended to help the public better understand the Monetary Committee’s considerations in making its decisions.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 28, 2017
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