The Israeli Shekel fell against the US Dollar and the Euro at the beginning of the week following Moody’s decision to downgrade Israel’s credit rating.
According to data from the Bank of Israel today, Monday, the exchange rate of the Shekel in early trading dropped to 3.69 Shekels to the Dollar, down from Friday’s closing of 3.66 Shekels.
Last Friday, Moody’s announced that it had downgraded the foreign currency issuer ratings and local currency ratings for the Israeli government to “A2” from “A1”, as well as downgrading Israel’s local and foreign currency unsecured ratings to “A2” from “A1” amid negative expectations.
This downgrade, the first for Israel in over 50 years, comes amidst Tel Aviv’s ongoing war in Gaza since October 7th, as well as tensions in the north with Hezbollah and attacks by the Houthis in the southern Red Sea on Israeli, American, and British ships.
The Shekel also declined against the Euro to 3.99 Shekels, down from Friday’s closing of 3.96 Shekels, amid expectations for the exchange rate effects of the rating to subside, with military developments remaining a key driver of prices in the upcoming period.
On the agenda of the exchange market in Israel this week, inflation data for last January will be released on the upcoming Thursday. This is the latest inflation index that will be published before the Bank of Israel’s next decision on the interest rate on February 26th.
This is a direct translation of the Arabic news article provided.
