Foreign Exchange Reserves in the Bank of Israel, March 2017

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of March 2017 stood at $103,291 million, an increase of $1,271 million from their level at the end of the previous month. The reserves represent 32.4 percent of GDP (Figure 1).

 

The increase was the result of:

a.       Foreign currency purchases by the Bank of Israel totaling $1,585 million

b.      A revaluation[1] that increased the reserves by about $549 million.

 

The increase was offset by:

c.       Government transfers to abroad totaling about $649 million.

d.      Private sector transfers of about $214 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
March 2016	9,300	93,476c	1,304	94,780c
April 2016	9,300	94,378c	1,306	95,684c
May 2016	9,600	95,170	1,293	96,463
June 2016	9,600	95,594	1,041	96,635
July 2016	9,900	96,356	1,037	97,393
August 2016	9,900	96,588	1,038	97,626
September 2016	9,900	97,380c	1,049	98,429c
October 2016	10,200	96,931	1,032	97,963
November 2016	10,200	95,948	1,179	97,127
December 2016	10,500	97,275c	1,172c	98,447c
January 2017	10,500	100,428c	1,183	101,611c
February 2017	10,750	100,841 c	1,179	102,020c
March 2017	10,750	102,109	1,182	103,291

 

 

 

Figure 1

Level of foreign exchange reserves, and their ratio to GDP, 2007–17

Graphs 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 in the IMF.

c Updated after the original date of publication.

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