Households' outstanding mortgage debt rose by NIS 8.5 billion during the first half of 2012 to NIS 267.1 billion.
Households' outstanding mortgage debt rose by NIS 8.5 billion during the first half of 2012 to NIS 267.1 billion, a 3.3% increase over the corresponding period of 2011, the Bank of Israel reported today. Total household debt rose by 0.6%, or NIS 1.6 billion during the first half to NIS 374.6 billion.
Households took NIS 4.9 billion in new mortgages in July, up from NIS 3.9 billion in June. The July figure for July is NIS 1.5 billion higher than monthly average of NIS 3.4 billion in the first half of the year. The Bank of Israel noted that June and July generally see an increase in new mortgages.
Business sector debt rose 0.2%, or NIS 1.4 billion, in June to NIS 792 billion. Most of the increase was due to the depreciation of the shekel against the dollar, which increased the shekel value of foreign currency debt. In July, the business sector (excluding banks and insurance companies) issued NIS 3.7 billion of bonds, nearly all of which was tradable. Bond issues since the beginning of the year averaged NIS 2.4 billion a month.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 26, 2012
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