Bank of Israel Discloses Increase in FX Intervention to Weaken the Shekel
Posted on 01/18/2021
As the Israeli shekel strengthens against the U.S. dollars, Israeli exporters are reeling in pain. The U.S. dollar fell in January to its lowest value against the shekel in the past 24 years. To counter this, for the first time, the Monetary Committee of the Bank of Israel announced the size of its foreign exchange interventions in advance. The central bank plans to purchase US$ 30 billion in 2021 in a bid to manage the appreciation of the shekel. This is an increase of over 40% from the US$ 21 billion purchased in 2020.
The weakened U.S. dollar has helped Israeli consumers and importers however.