The Monetary Committee of the Bank of Israel decided on Monday to keep the interest rate it charges commercial banks at a quarter of a percent.
In announcing the decision, the bank noted that the inflation environment remained near the lower bound of the target range, saying, "After the annual inflation rate declined below the target range in December, it returned above the lower bound in January...." It also noted, "Since the last interest rate decision, the shekel strengthened by 2 percent in nominal effective exchange rate terms. If the appreciation continues, it could delay the inflation rate’s rise toward the midpoint of the target."