Israeli central bank keeps interest rate at historic low of 0.1 pct

Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-28 01:33:36|Editor: yan
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JERUSALEM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Central Bank announced Monday to keep the interest rate for December unchanged at its current historic low of 0.1 percent.

The interest rate has remained at 0.1 percent since March 2015. The central bank did not expect a rate increase until the third quarter of 2018 because of the low inflation, said the Bank of Israel (BOI).

The BOI intends to maintain the accommodative policy as long as necessary in order to entrench the inflation environment within the target range of 1-3 percent.

Israel's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.3 percent in October compared with the previous month, according to figures lately released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

CPI has seen a hike of 0.6 percent since the start of this year. Both figures are still below the government target range.

In recent months, there has been a slight increase in inflation, though it remains below the target, said the BOI.

Annual inflation increased, and short-term expectations rose slightly. Long-term expectations are anchored within the target range, according to the BOI.

The BOI said that the Israeli economy continues to expand at a pace consistent with its potential growth.

However, the first estimate of third quarter National Accounts shows a halt in the recovery of exports, due to a decline in good exports, while private consumption again became the main component of growth, said the BOI.

As for the Israeli currency, in the past 12 months, the new shekel has appreciated by 5 percent in effective exchange rate, according to the BOI.

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