The Israeli currency is moving to the lower end of the NIS 3.25-3.35/$ range, in which it has been trading for the past three months.
The shekel is strengthening today against the dollar and is stable against the euro. In early afternoon inter-bank trading the shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 0.55% against the dollar at NIS 3.263/$ and up 0.07% against the euro at NIS 3.929/€.
On Friday the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate 0.183% lower, at NIS 3.281/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.191% lower, at NIS 3.927/€.
This afternoon the Bank of Israel will announced its interest rate decision for May with no expectations of a change to the 0.1% rate. The focus will be on the Bank of Israel's growth forecast and inflation expectations.
Last week Bank Leumi head of market strategy Kobi Levi described the NIS 3.30/$ rate as the new normal. He said that he expected the shekel-dollar rate to remain in the NIS 3.25-3.35/$ range for the rest of 2021. The shekel-dollar rate has been trading in this range since mid-January when the Bank of Israel announced its $30 billion foreign currency purchasing program for 2021. Today's strengthening of the shekel sees it move towards the lower edge of that range.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 19, 2021
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Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative