Globes: Bank of Israel seen leaving interest rate unchanged
22 July 12 10:13–25 of 27 analysts in a Bloomberg survey predict that the Bank of Israel Monetary Committee will keep the central bank’s key interest rate unchanged for August, at 2.25%, in its decision tomorrow, while two analysts predict a cut of 25 basis points. Last month, the Bank of Israel cut its interest rate for July by 25 basis points.
Poor economic data continued to pour in during July, including an unexpected 0.3% drop in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June, raising concerns that the economy is headed for a recession. The CPI figure came on top of a drop in exports, a slowdown in economic growth, a drop in sales by retail chains, and other data.
At the same time, home prices are still rising, which makes it more difficult for the Bank of Israel to cut the interest rate. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, home prices rose by 0.7% in May and by 2.2% in January-May…Read More>>
