Shekel weakens after Yellen rate remarks

Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative
Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative

US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen caused a stir by saying the interest rates may have to rise to prevent 'overheating' of the economy.

The shekel is weakening today against the dollar and against the euro. In afternoon inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate was up 0.46% against the dollar at NIS 3.267/$ and the shekel-euro rate was up 0.51% at NIS 3.925/€.

Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate up 0.185% from Monday, at NIS 3.252/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.179% lower, at NIS 3.905/€.

The shekel has been weakening over the past year days after strengthening over the past week and falling below the NIS 3.25-3.35/$ band for the first time since February. The Bank of Israel is set to reveal the scale of foreign currency purchases in April made to keep the Israeli currency for strengthening even more.

Yesterday US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen caused a stir by saying the interest rates may have to rise to prevent 'overheating' of the economy. But after markets began falling she walked back the comments by insisting that she had not been predicting higher interest rates.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 5, 2021

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

Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative
Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative
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