The Monetary Committee of the Bank of Israel has raised the rate of interest it charges banks to a quarter of a percent after having held it at a tenth of a percent since March 2015
In announcing the change, the bank noted, "After a continued rise in inflation since the beginning of 2018, the inflation rate is stabilizing slightly above the lower bound of the target range, and is expected to remain within the target in the coming months as well," and "Since the previous interest rate decision, the shekel weakened by 3.6 percent in terms of the nominal effective exchange rate and by 3.2 percent vis-à-vis the dollar." It concluded, "Even after an increase of the interest rate by 0.15 percentage points, monetary policy remains accommodative and will continue to support the attainment of policy targets. The Committee assesses that the rising path of the interest rate in the future will be gradual and cautious."