Israeli foreign reserves slump $7.3bn in October amid war on Gaza
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Israel's foreign exchange reserves fell by $7.3 billion in October as the regime's central bank sought to defend the shekel after the start of the war on Gaza
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Man displays bills of 50 shekels (AFP)
By the end of October, "Israel's" foreign reserves decreased by $7.3 billion (3.7%) to a total of $191.2 billion, Bloomberg reports.
The drop was primarily attributed to the regime's central bank's efforts to support the shekel following the start of the resistance operation on October 7.
On October 9, the central bank introduced a $45 billion support package, involving the sale of up to $30 billion from its foreign-currency reserves and providing up to $15 billion through swaps.
Israeli stocks and bonds experienced significant declines as traders were concerned that the war might spill out into the region.
Despite this decline, analysts note that the reserves remain higher than the average of the past decade.
Over the past ten days, Israeli assets, including the shekel, have shown improvement amid a global relief rally and allegations that the war on Gaza may soon come to an end.
The shekel has since recovered nearly all its losses since October 7, registering a 0.9% increase to 3.85 per dollar as of 1:55 p.m. in "Tel Aviv", resulting in a 6% rise since late October.
The central bank attributed the decline in reserves primarily to foreign-currency sales amounting to $8.2 billion.
Israel supports shekel, causing it to recoup losses
— Dēmiurgòs (@DemiurgosCaen) November 7, 2023
The Israeli shekel has recovered most of its losses since the war between Israel and Hamas began a month ago, and central bank support has helped contain volatility and prevent bets against it.
The currency is less than 1%… pic.twitter.com/enhu6sOSr3
Whether things will remain as such or not is up to debate.
Since the start of the resistance operation, several countries have called for a boycott of Israeli products and have expelled Israeli envoys.
The global movement to boycott Israeli products is likely to have severe consequences on trade and investor sentiment, which will impact the regime's economic performance.
Moments ago, a source in the Turkish parliament informed Reuters that the Parliament has imposed a partial ban on the sale of Israeli-linked companies, including Coca-cola and Neslté.
Read more: Iran to release list of banned imports from Israeli-linked firms
