Posted on 08/21/23
| News Source: Times of Israel
The Israeli shekel took a further tumble to 3.8039 against the US dollar on Monday, its lowest rate since 2017.
The shekel has lost two percent against the dollar since the beginning of last week, and 5% since the start of August.
Former finance minister Avigdor Liberman, who held the position in the previous government, criticized his successor Bezalel Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing them of “simply destroying Israel’s economy.”
“One piece of data is stronger than all the talk and chatter of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich,” tweeted Liberman, leader of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party. “The dollar breaking records and reaching a rate of 3.8, a five-year record.”
The euro has also gained around 3% against the shekel since the beginning of the month and at the end of last week the exchange rate was NIS 4.1206 for one euro.
Analysts at banks and investment houses increased their expectation that the Bank of Israel will raise the interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on September 4, reaching 5%, while prime interest will rise to 6.5% compared to 1.6% in 2022.