The shekel is strengthening against the dollar and against the euro. In late morning inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 0.80% at NIS 3.493/$ and down 0.22% against the euro at NIS 3.994/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative rate up 0.085% at NIS 3.521/$ from Tuesday's rate and set the shekel-euro rate up 1.084% at 4.002/€.
The shekel-dollar exchange rate has fallen below NIS 3.50/$ for the first time since August 2014 and has now lost 9% against the shekel in 2017. The dollar is under pressure worldwide and has hit a new ten month low against the euro after President Donald Trump's healthcare bill was delayed by Congress while Eurozone markets are performing well. The euro rose above NIS 4/€ yesterday but has slipped back below that rate today.
The Bank of Israel is now coming under intense pressure to intervene in foreign currency trading and buy foreign exchange in order to weaken the shekel and help exporters. In April and May, the Bank of Israel bought over $2 billion in foreign currency, intervening every time the exchange rate went below NIS 3.60/$. But for the past month now, the Bank of Israel has been sitting on the sidelines, even though the shekel-dollar exchange rate has slipped further and further below NIS 3.60/$ and is now even below NIS 3.50/$.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 29, 2017
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