Israel's Economy Bounces Back With 15% GDP Growth as Lockdowns Lift - Bloomberg
The Israeli economy grew by an annualized 15.4% in the second quarter, due largely to the lifting of a coronavirus lockdown, as officials labor to avert another one.
The figure published Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics marked a significant turnaround from the first quarter, when the economy contracted by a revised 1.4%. Growth was also buoyed by a significant increase in the import of passenger cars compared to the first quarter of 2021, according to the statistics bureau.
The Israeli economy has bounced back swiftly after shrinking 2.5% in 2020 due to the pandemic. A thriving high tech scene, relatively low borrowing costs and strong private consumption are all helping to push the economy forward, with the Bank of Israel predicting gross domestic product will grow 5.5% this year.
Private consumption expenditure grew at an annualized rate of 36.3% in the second quarter, while gross fixed capital formation rose by 9.7%, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The consumption figure after the economy reopened was “much greater than what we expected,” said Victor Bahar, chief economist at Bank Hapoalim in Tel Aviv.
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