Israel embarked on its first cycle of interest-rate hikes in more than a decade, raising borrowing costs more than forecast in response to above-target inflation.
The increase to 0.75% from 0.35% on Monday exceeded the estimates of most analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. In April, the central bank also delivered a bigger-than-expected hike of a quarter percentage point.
The Monetary Committee said in a statement that wages in the business sector were “slightly higher than the path that corresponds to the pre-pandemic trend,” suggesting that rising incomes had factored into its decision-making process. It reiterated that the process of raising rates will be “gradual.”
Israel’s currency appreciated sharply after the decision and traded 0.7% stronger against the dollar as of 4:17 p.m. local time.
No comments:
Post a Comment