The shekel-dollar rate has plunged by two percent this week, and the dollar now is trading at 3.428 shekels following the decision by Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer not to lower the interest rate further. A lower rate weakens the shekel by making it less attractive to investors.
The shekel-dollar rate now is close to its 11-year low of 3.36, reached earlier this year. The drop was stemmed by Fischer's announcement that the Bank is embarking on a two-year program to spend more than $2 billion to buy the dollar and keep it from sliding further and damaging exports.