Foreign Exchange Reserves at the Bank of Israel, October 2021

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of October 2021 stood at $207,473 million, an increase of $3,493 million from their level at the end of the previous month. The reserves are the equivalent of 47 percent of GDP (Figure 1).

 

The increase was the result of:

a.      Foreign exchange purchases by the Bank of Israel totaling approximately $1,753 million.

b.     A revaluation^[1] that increased the reserves by approximately $2,021 million.

 

In contrast, the increase was partly offset by:

c.      Private sector transfers of approximately $116 million.

d.     Government transfers to abroad totaling approximately $165 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
October 2020	158,859c	1,889	160,748c
November 2020	165,033c	1,914	166,947c
December 2020	171,242c	2,055	173,297c
January 2021	177,444c	2,057	179,501c
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

 

 

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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, 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.​