In the third quarter of 2017, the balance of business sector debt increased by approximately NIS 20.5 billion (2.4 percent), to NIS 871 billion. Outstanding household debt increased by about NIS 5 billion (1 percent) during the third quarter, to about NIS 524 billion at the end of September.[1]

 

The business sector’s outstanding debt

  • In the third quarter of 2017, the balance of business sector debt increased by approximately NIS 20.5 billion (2.4 percent), to NIS 871 billion. The increase in the debt balance derived from growth in all funding channels, which totaled approximately NIS 19.1 billion, and was made up mainly of an increase in loans from nonresidents, bank and nonbank loans, and net funds raised in tradable bonds in Israel. Also contributing to the increase in the debt balance was a depreciation of approximately 0.9 percent of the shekel vis-à-vis the dollar, which increased the value of the debt denominated in and indexed to foreign exchange
  • In the third quarter, the business sector (excluding banks and insurance companies) issued about NIS 10.5 billion in bonds, following high issuances from the beginning of the year (about NIS 27 billion). There were notable issuances in the quarter by companies in the manufacturing and gas industry (about 36 percent), and by companies in the real estate and construction industry (about 35 percent). In October 2017, the business sector issued a total of about NIS 4.1 billion in bonds, mostly in tradable bonds.
  • In the third quarter, the spread between yields on CPI-indexed corporate bonds, as measured by the Tel Bond 60 index, and the yield on CPI-indexed government bonds narrowed by about 0.2 percentage points to about 1 percentage point, following an expansion in the previous quarter. In October 2017 the spread continued to narrow, to about 0.96 percentage points.


Household debt

  • Households’ outstanding debt increased by approximately NIS 5 billion (about 1 percent) in the third quarter of 2017, to about NIS 524 billion. Outstanding housing debt increased in the third quarter by about NIS 3.9 billion (1.2 percent), to about NIS 332 billion. Despite the increase in outstanding debt, the trend of decline in its growth rate, which began in the second half of 2016, continues both in housing debt and in nonhousing debt (Figure 4).
  • In the third quarter of 2017, the decline continued in new mortgages taken out, which totaled about NIS 13.7 billion, lower than the corresponding period last year (about NIS 16 billion). In October 2017, the decline in new mortgages taken out continued, and they totaled about NIS 3.9 billion. Net of seasonal effects, new mortgages taken out in October totaled about NIS 4.7 billion (Figure 5).

 


Full press release, including graphs and data​


Graphs and data​

 

 

For links to Data and Statistics on the Bank of Israel website:

http://www.boi.org.il/en/dataandstatistics/pages/default.aspx

 

http://www.boi.org.il/en/bankingsupervision/data/pages/tables.aspx?chapterid=13


http://www.boi.org.il/en/BankingSupervision/Data/Pages/Tables.aspx?ChapterId=19

[1] As of the publication of this press release, final data from banks had not yet been received for the third quarter of 2017, so that changes are possible regarding data on credit from banks (balances and flows).

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