Falcon powers – The Central Bank of Israel has announced a decrease in foreign exchange reserves by $5.632 billion as of the end of April compared to the end of March.
This decline is primarily attributed to the revaluation of the Israeli Shekel, which led to a reduction in reserves by $3.895 billion, as well as government foreign exchange activities totaling $1.703 billion.
As a result, the total foreign exchange reserves in the Central Bank of Israel now stand at $208.109 billion.
The Israeli economy has been facing several challenges due to the high cost of the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian Gaza Strip since October of last year. The mobilization of 300,000 Israeli reserve soldiers, along with the displacement of thousands from border areas with Gaza and the Lebanese border to central cities, has impacted the performance of the Israeli economy.
Despite announcing a plan in October 2023 to sell up to $30 billion of foreign currencies to support the Shekel, the Central Bank of Israel has only sold $8.5 billion since the beginning of the conflict, most of which was sold in the same month of October.
Amir Yaron, the Governor of the Central Bank of Israel, stated last month that the “geopolitical uncertainty” in Israel “remains high and has increased recently.”
He added, “Despite the gradual improvement in economic activity, there is still a long way to go before the economy fully recovers.”
