Bank of Israel buys foreign currency to weaken shekel

The Financial institution of Israel has reported that it bought $801 million in overseas foreign money in Could. This adopted the sharp strengthening of the shekel, which was making it troublesome for exporters and know-how firms.

Market sources had thought that the Financial institution of Israel had solely made marginal purchases of foreign exchange in Could and that it continued to purchase overseas change extra vigorously this month – in parallel with the change in path within the change price. After the shekel-dollar price touched a low of NIS 2.799/$ on the finish of Could, it has jumped practically 5% and now stands at NIS 2.94/$. That is in all probability additionally as a result of sharp declines on Wall Road on the finish of the week, which led institutional traders to rebalance publicity in portfolios, shut hedging positions and purchase {dollars}.

The Financial institution of Israel can intervene within the overseas change market in two methods – via financial coverage by slicing the rate of interest and by buying overseas change reserves.

The Financial institution of Israel reported that Israel’s overseas change reserves on the finish of Could 2026 stood at a file $238.681 billion, up $2.953 billion from their stage on the finish of April.. The extent of the reserves relative to GDP was 37.2%.

The rise was primarily the results of: a revaluation that elevated the reserves by roughly $2.685 billion plus overseas change purchases by amounting to $801million “to take care of the orderly functioning of the markets.” This improve was partly offset by the federal government’s overseas change actions totaling about $721 million.

Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on June 7, 2026.

© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026. .