News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) A booming economy accompanied by a weakening shekel and rising energy prices point to the end of zero inflation, according to analysts. The Citigroup investment form, whose top management included Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer before he assumed the post two years ago, noted that the zero inflation rate for May represented the first time this year that the consumer price index was not in negative territory.

The dollar-shekel rate has risen more than four percent in the past month, and fuel prices may continue to rise following the recent near-record high in world crude oil. Economists previously expected that inflation in June would be below zero, but the rise in the dollar-shekel rate and fuel prices may put the index back into the plus area.