The shekel is strengthening today against the dollar and stable against the euro. In late morning inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate is down 0.25% against the dollar at NIS 3.660/$ and up 0.03% against the euro at 4.181/€.
On Friday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative rate down 0.515% at NIS 3.669/$ and set the shekel-euro rate down 0.303% at 4.179/€.
The shekel continues to strengthen and consolidate its position below NIS 3.70/$, despite the disappointing news from the Central Bureau of Statistics last week that the Israeli economy only grew by 2%, on an annualized basis, in the second quarter, after rising by more than 4% in each of the three previous quarters. The ministry of Finance had already warned that growth would be sluggish in the second quarter due to a slump in new car deliveries but that this was only a technical matter and growth should be much higher in the third quarter.
The situation on the Gaza border remains tense and uncertain as Egypt attempts to broker a truce.
Meanwhile, the dollar is stable on global markets ahead of US-China trade talks this week. International investors are optimistic that the talks will de-escalate the tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 20, 2018
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