The Israeli currency is strengthening as inflation returns to the government's 1%-3% target range, making interest rate hikes possible.
The shekel is strengthening today against the dollar and against the euro. In early afternoon inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate is down 0.55% against the dollar at NIS 3.621/$ and down 0.39% against the euro at 4.249/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative rate down 0.055% at NIS 3.641/$ from Friday's rate and set the shekel-euro rate up 0.658% at 4.266/€.
The shekel is stronger today as inflation returns to the government's 1%-3% target range after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.1% in June. This will allow the Bank of Israel to raise the interest rate above the historic low of 0.1%, where it has remained since March 2015.
The Israeli economy remains strong with the Central Bureau of Statistics revising first quarter growth rate estimates up to 4.7% (from 4.5%) on an annualized basis.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 17, 2018
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Shekel Photo: ASAP Creative