Central Bank of Israel's downgrade economic growth projections

In light of the continuing conflict between the Israeli army and Palestinians in Gaza, the Central Bank of Israel revised downwards its projections for economic growth. Simultaneously, the bank maintained its current interest rates.

The members of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee are making efforts to support the shekel, as its value has recently dropped against the dollar to its lowest point in 11 years, as reported by the German News Agency.

According to the revised forecasts from the Research Department of the Central Bank of Israel, the economy is expected to experience growth rates of 2.3 percent and 2.8 percent in the current and next years, respectively. This is a decrease from the previous expectations of 3 percent growth for both years.

The Central Bank assumes that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians will only continue in southern Israel. However, the Governor of the Central Bank, Amir Yaron, has mentioned that if the scope of the conflict were to expand, these estimates may need to be adjusted again.

In line with the expectations of most analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News Agency, the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep the key interest rate at 4.75 percent for the third consecutive meeting.