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Article: Interest rate unchanged. (Israeli key lending rate; in March, 1997)
- Article from:
- Israel Business Today
- Article date:
- March 31, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Israel Business Today. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Bank of Israel Governor, Yaakov Frenkel, has decided not to reduce the key lending rate which stays at the March rate of 13.9 percent. Frenkel was even reported to have considered an increase in the interest rate due to a rise of 8.5 percent in the money supply in the past three months.
The Governor's decision was not popular with the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance who are looking for a gradual decrease of two percent in order to fuel the rate of devaluation of the shekel. Meanwhile, Frenkel returned fire by criticizing the Government: "A decrease in the rate of [economic] growth is essential. The high rate of growth, at seven percent, was not healthy ...