The shekel has ended August at its strongest against the US dollar since July 2008 after appreciating for the third straight trading day. The Bank of Israel set the shekel 0.178% down from Friday at NIS 3.362/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.207% higher at NIS 4.013/€.
In early evening inter-bank trading the shekel continued to strengthen. The shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 0.08% at NIS 3.359/$ and down 0.09% against the euro at NIS 4.009/€.
Despite purchases of foreign currency worth billions of dollars by the Bank of Israel in recent months the shekel continues to strengthen.
Prico Risk Management and Investments CEO Yossi Fraiman said, "In the next week with the start of the new month, salary payments will continue to create large supply of foreign currency while demand for foreign currency is lower than last year, among other things, because of the few flights and booking for vacations abroad.
Fraiman adds, "An exchange rate of NIS 3.36/$ means that exporters are losing a lot of money every month, even if they have protected and hedged themselves against catastrophe this is a rollercoaster on its way to new lows and this has been going on for six months and it is expected to continue for many more months. So whoever is concerned about employment in Israel must see what is happening in Israeli industry and especially advanced technology industries with high-tech being the engine of the economy and they better wake up soon before the situation worsens."
Fraiman explains that the shekel is not the only currency strengthening against the dollar, which is struggling on world forex markets. "Foreign investors working to hedge and protect their investments are continuing to sell the dollar and revert to purchasing their own currencies and this is strengthening the euro, sterling, yen, Swiss franc and other currencies."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 31, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020