Foreign Exchange Reserves at the Bank of Israel, February 2022

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of February 2022 stood at $207,065 million, a decrease of $1,692 million from their level at the end of the previous month. The level of the reserves relative to GDP was 45.1 percent (Figure 1).

 

The decrease was the result of:

a.       A revaluation^[1] that decreased the reserves by approximately $1,108 million.

b.      Government transfers to abroad totaling approximately $838 million.

 

In contrast, the decrease was partly offset by Private sector transfers of approximately $254 million.

 

Israel's Foreign Exchange Reserves ($ million)

 

Date	Reserves excluding IMF (including reserves bought under the natural gas purchase program)	Reserves at the IMF[2]	Total Foreign Exchange Reserves
February 2021	182,990c	2,065	185,055c
March 2021	183,664c	2,016	185,680c
April 2021	191,957c	2,043	194,000c
May 2021	196,348	2,002	198,350
June 2021	198,192	1,983	200,175
July 2021	199,709c	1,986	201,695c
August 2021	201,305c	4,602d	205,907c
September 2021	199,430c	4,550	203,980c
October 2021	202,892	4,581	207,473
November 2021	204,152	4,618c	208,770c
December 2021	208,325c	4,673	212,998c
January 2022	204,169c	4,588	208,757c
February 2022	202,478	4,587	207,065

 

 

 

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^a Includes Bank of Israel payments and receipts in foreign currency.

b This column includes Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the balance of NAB loans, and the balance of Israel's reserve tranche at the IMF.

c Updated after the original date of publication.

^d On August 23, 2021, the International Monetary Fund allocated approximately $2.6 billion to Israel, as part of the IMF allocation to all of the organization’s member countries totaling $650 billion. Together with this increase in reserves at the IMF, a long-term liability to the IMF—in the amount that was allocated—was added to the Bank of Israel balance sheet.​