Foreign Exchange Reserves at the Bank of Israel, January 2019

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of January 2019 stood at $118,151 million, an increase of $2,872 million from their level at the end of the previous month. The reserves represent 32.1 percent of GDP (Figure 1).

 

The increase was the result of:

a.   Foreign exchange purchases by the Bank of Israel totaling $30 million.

b.   Government transfers from abroad totaling about $1,213 million.

c.   A revaluation[1] that increased the reserves by approximately $1,659 million.

 

In contrast, the increase was offset by private sector transfers of approximately $30 million.

 

 

Israel's Foreign Exchange Reserves ($ million)

 

Date	Reserves bought under the natural gas purchase program	Reserves excluding IMF (including reserves bought under the natural gas purchase program)	Reserves at the IMF[2]	Total Foreign Exchange Reserves
January 2018	12,000	116,100c	1,522	117,622c
February 2018	12,304	114,783c	1,510c	116,293c
March 2018	12,447	114,609c	1,518	116,127c
April 2018	12,471	113,872	1,482	115,354
May 2018	12,625	113,239	1,461	114,700
June 2018	12,750	113,340c	1,492	114,832c
July 2018	12,750	114,292	1,490	115,782
August 2018	12,923	114,520	1,485	116,005
September 2018	12,939	113,980c	1,478	115,458c
October 2018	13,056	112,446	1,465	113,911
November 2018	13,274	113,405	1,651	115,056
December 2018	13,500	113,525c	1,754c	115,279
January 2019	13,500	116,416	1,735	118,151

 

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[1] This includes Bank of Israel payments and receipts in foreign currency.

[2] 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.​

​Data​

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