By www.CentralBankNews.info Israel’s central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.50 percent and will intervene in the foreign exchange market where the shekel is continuing to appreciate due to the start of natural gas production, rate cuts by other central banks, continued quantitative easing in major economies and an expected moderation in global growth.
The rate cut by the Bank of Israel (BoI) was a surprise move and the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said the decisions were reached “outside the regularly scheduled framework.” The next scheduled meeting of the committee is May 27.
At its last meeting in March, the BoI had said economic activity was continuing to improve but it was still too early to determine if the economy had turned the corner. In 2012 the BoI cut rates by 100 basis points but had left them unchanged so far this year.