Foreign Exchange Reserves at the Bank of Israel, July 2019

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of July 2019 stood at $119,994 million, a decline of $114 million from their level at the end of the previous month. The reserves represent 32.5 percent of GDP (Figure 1).

 

The decline was the result of:

a.       A revaluation[1] that lowered the reserves by approximately $618 million.

b.      Private sector transfers of approximately $12 million.

 

In contrast, the decline was partly offset by Government transfers from abroad totaling approximately $516 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
July 2018	114,292	1,490	115,782
August 2018	114,520	1,485	116,005
September 2018	113,980c	1,478	115,458c
October 2018	112,446	1,465	113,911
November 2018	113,405	1,651	115,056
December 2018	113,525c	1,754c	115,279
January 2019	116,418c	1,735	118,153c
February 2019	116,218c	1,721	117,939c
March 2019	116,514c	1,705	118,219c
April 2019	117,044	1,699	118,743
May 2019	116,485	1,639	118,124
June 2019	118,460	1,648	120,108
July 2019	118,309	1,685	119,994

 

 

 

Figure 1

Level of foreign exchange reserves, and their ratio to GDP, 2007–19

Garph and data​

​

 

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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.