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Business sector debt declined by about 0.2 percent to around NIS 779 billion in July. Households' housing debt increased by about NIS 3.3 billion (1.2 percent), to about NIS 284 billion at the end of the month.
The business sector's outstanding debt
- The total outstanding debt of the business sector declined by about NIS 1.2 billion (0.2 percent) in July, to about NIS 779 billion. The decline derived primarily from the strengthening of the shekel against the dollar, which reduced the shekel value of foreign currency-denominated debt. The decline was partially offset by net funds raised of about NIS 0.2 billion and by the CPI effect.
- In July, for the first time this year, there were positive net funds raised from banks by the business sector, of about NIS 2 billion. This follows net repayment of debt by the business sector throughout the first half of 2013, totaling about NIS 11.6 billion.
- In August, the business sector (excluding banks and insurance companies) issued about NIS 2.5 billion of bonds, all of which were tradable bonds. The figure is essentially the monthly average of bond issuances since the beginning of the year, which is also about NIS 2.5 billion.
- Households' outstanding debt in July was about NIS 401 billion. The balance of housing debt, which is included in the total household debt, increased by about NIS 3.3 billion (1.2 percent), and was about NIS 284 billion at the end of July.
New mortgages taken out in August totaled about NIS 4.8 billion, higher than the monthly average since the beginning of the year, which is about NIS 4.4 billion. The cost of the debt In August, the average interest rate on new unindexed mortgages as well as the average interest rate on new CPI-indexed mortgages was almost unchanged compared wth the previous month.