Capital Market

The mortgage market continues to boil: Bank of Israel data show that the volume of new mortgages taken out in February was NIS 7.3 billion, a jump of 19% compared to February last year, and of 11% compared to the average in the last 12 months. Similar to January, the average mortgage amount reached NIS 800,000 in February. The banking system notes that the strong data are due to high demand, for fear of continued price increases, and the lack of a plan to address the supply in the housing market on the horizon. In addition, economic uncertainty diminished with the gradual return to...

The Bank of Israel today publishes the annual report for 2020, which includes an extensive review of the effects of the corona on the economy. The bottom line, the report notes, is that there are considerable differences between sectors in the economy and society. Weaknesses of the socio-economic safety net and gaps between sectors. According to the report, the approval of the state budget for 2021 is essential to set priorities and implement plans to accelerate growth, especially in the areas of human capital and investment in public transport, communications, energy and environmental...

Returning to the routine, also on the economic side: The consumer confidence index in March rose to 7% - compared to 12% - in the previous month, and similar to the value measured in February 2020, on the eve of the corona crisis, then the index stood at 6%. This is what the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes today (Tuesday). The balance sheet relating to the individuals' intentions for large purchases in the coming year compared to the previous year stands at 24%, similar to February; The balance sheet has been improving since October, when it stood at 45%. The balance sheet relating...

The Central Bureau of Statistics today publishes an amazing statistic regarding the number of vacancies in the economy. According to the CBS, the number of job vacancies was about 112.5 thousand jobs in March, which is the highest estimate observed since the beginning of the survey in 2009. The highest estimate so far was 106.5 in May 2017. The vacancy rate for March is 4.43% compared to the average vacancy rate of 3.59% in 2019 and 2.47% in 2020. There has been an increase in the number of job vacancies in all sectors of the economy surveyed compared to the 2020 average, and the most...

The price of the economic corona: The government debt has reached almost a trillion shekels. In 2020, government debt increased by about 20% and stood at NIS 984 billion each, compared to NIS 823 billion last year. The government deficit more than tripled during 2020 and has reached unprecedented proportions since the 1980s. Add to this the dramatic drop in tax revenues recorded at the beginning of the crisis and the ongoing budget, it will be possible to understand the magnitude of the event that took place in the offices of the Accountant General Unit, responsible for providing funding...

Small and medium-sized businesses employ 65% ​​of the labor force in the Arab sector - but the financing products in the economy are not tailored to them. This situation will be tried to change by a new fund owned by the state and a public association, and it will provide 250 loans amounting to NIS 15 million. The fund was established by the Koret Funds Association and the Small Business Agency in the Ministry of Economy, and will provide a solution for registered, existing and new businesses that have not received a loan through the state-guaranteed fund in the past year, as well as for...

19th place in the world in the GDP per capita ranking - the figure that sounds almost dreamy, appears in the IMF database. With $ 43,689, Israel is below only 18 countries out of 194 countries in GDP per capita in nominal terms. These IMF figures present a flattering picture, but they are problematic. When you look at the significant figure that allows comparison to other countries - GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), GDP per capita in Israel is $ 40,547, and its place in the world ranking is 35, similar to what it had for several years And Macau, we are about 30th...

The recovery of the economy is much broader than expected. April recorded a record state revenue for this month from taxes in recent years. Despite the holidays, total tax revenue in April 2021 was NIS 30 billion. The data, which will be officially published on Sunday, show that this is an increase of close to 30% compared to the state's tax revenues in April 2019, before the corona crisis, which amounted to NIS 23.6 billion. In April 2020, of which the first closure was for 19 days, tax revenues were particularly low at NIS 21.9 billion. The increase in tax revenues last month is due to...

A new record in the Bank of Israel's foreign exchange reserves rapidly approaching $ 200 billion. Foreign exchange reserves totaled $ 193.996 billion at the end of April 2021, an increase of $ 8.316 billion compared to the end of March. The balances constitute 48.1% of gross domestic product. The increase in balances is explained by foreign currency purchases by the Bank of Israel in the amount of $ 5.266 billion and transfers by the private sector in the amount of approximately $ 186 million. In addition, foreign currency reserves were revalued in the amount of approximately $ 3.129...

The government deficit continues to decline, amounting to 11.2% of GDP in the last 12 months (May 2020-April 2021); This is after the first time since the outbreak of the corona crisis was recorded in March, a decrease compared to the previous month - to 12.1%. State revenues amounted to NIS 35.5 billion in April (NIS 31.4 billion of which are tax revenues). This is about 10% of the state's revenue forecast for 2021. The state's capital raising was (gross) in April NIS 16.8 billion in the domestic market, and NIS 400 million abroad. In April, NIS 10.3 billion was repaid from the total...