The Bank of Israel announced on Thursday that Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of August stood at $116,005 million, an increase of $223 million from their level at the end of the previous month.
The reserves represent 31.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The increase was the result of foreign exchange purchases by the Bank of Israel totaling $173 million as part of the purchase program intended to offset the effects of natural gas production on the exchange rate, a revaluation that increased the reserves by approximately $262 million and private sector transfers of approximately $61 million. The increase was offset by government transfers abroad totaling about $273 million.