(IsraelNN.com) The shekel’s strength has resulted in it becoming one of 17 currencies traded in the global currency market, joining the 15 currencies currently traded, along with the Mexican peso.

Shekels will, in the next three months, become available in commercial banks in more than 80 countries around the world. Currently traded are the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Danish krone, Euro, British pound, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, Korean won, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Singapore dollar, South African rand, Swedish krona, Swiss franc and the US dollar.

The development is expected to reduce exchange-rate risks faced by Israel’s finance sector and improves Israel’s standing with credit rating agencies.

The decision to make the shekel internationally convertible originated with the CLS Bank, which is based in New York City and under the supervision of the US Federal Reserve.

The head of the CLS Bank visited Israel in 2006 to gauge the strength of the economy and currency of the State of Israel at the invitation of Bank of Israel Chief Stanley Fischer, an American Jewish immigrant.

IMF: Israel’s 2007 Economic Performance Exceptional
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its Executive Board’s conclusions last week, in which it determined that Israel's economic performance in 2007 was “exceptional” and attributed it to the Jewish State’s “responsible fiscal and budgetary policies, as well as the Bank of Israel's appropriate interest rate policy.”

According to Globes business news service, the report is the best any major international institution has ever written about Israel’s economy.