The shekel has strengthened this morning at the opening of this week's trading on the foreign exchange market. The shekel-dollar exchange rate is down 0.07% in comparison with Friday's representative rate, at NIS 3.9704/$, and the shekel-euro rate is down 0.47%, at NIS 4.2991/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel published the main points of the two-year forecast by its Research Department that was presented to the Monetary Committee at its last session when it decided to leave the central bank's interest rate at 0.1%, contrary to speculation that it would cut the rate. According to the forecast, inflation in 2015 will be minus 0.1%, and the rate of inflation will return to within the government's 1-3% target range only in 2016, when it will be 1.7%.
The Chinese stock market is rising strongly today on speculation that the Chinese government will ease the rules for Chinese companies seeking to list in Hong Kong. According to Bloomberg, analysts expect the Chinese central bank to continue cutting interest rates and to reduce the capital reserves that banks need to allocate against credit.
Prico CEO Yossi Fraiman says in his market review today that activity by importers, headed by energy companies, contributed to the rise in shekel exchange rates on Friday. The Passover holiday will mean thin trading and high volatility, he writes, and the Bank of Israel can be expected to encourage shekel depreciation by countering any excess supply of foreign currency on the market, in order weaken the shekel and thus support Israeli exports.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 30, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015