Articles by April, 2022

After quite a few rejections, the Israeli astronaut Eitan Steva was sent into space tonight (Friday) together with three other astronauts from the space base at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Tomorrow, the four are expected to arrive at the International Space Station on a 200-hour mission. A few minutes before the launch, Steve said in Hebrew: "A few days before we celebrate Independence Day, we take off. Good luck AX-1, good luck 'Sky'." A SpaceX broadcast said that the first stages of the launch were successfully completed, including the separation of the first stage launcher from its...

The deficit figures published by the Accountant General of the Ministry of Finance, Yahli Rotenberg, reveal that the budget deficit in relation to GDP in Israel is only 1.4% - the lowest since 2008, when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was still and Finance Minister Roni Brown was. In March, a total budget surplus of NIS 700 million was measured, making March the third month in a row that a budget surplus was measured - a situation that has not been remembered for years. The total budget surplus in the budget already reaches NIS 23.4 billion in the first quarter of the year. The huge decline in...

Clal Holdings announced to the stock exchange on Sunday evening the purchase of the MAX credit card company from the controlling owner, the Warburg Pincus Fund, for NIS 2.47 billion. The parties have already signed the memorandum of understanding in preparation for due diligence, and in the end they are expected to sign the agreement. To the extent that the transaction is completed, Warburg Pincus will exit Max three years after acquiring control of it at a value of NIS 2.5 billion from Bank Leumi as part of the adoption of the recommendations of the Strum Committee, which stipulated that...

The Bank of Israel, headed by the Governor, Prof. Amir Yaron, announced today (Monday) an increase in the basic interest rate in the economy from 0.1% to 0.35%. In doing so, the predictions were confirmed that the Monetary Committee is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in three and a half years. Some experts even thought that the bank might raise the interest rate to 0.5% at once, but this forecast did not materialize. Following the increase in the basic interest rate, the prime interest rate will also rise this coming Thursday, after the banks are preparing for a change,...

The Bank of Israel, headed by the Governor, Prof. Amir Yaron, announced today (Monday) an increase in the basic interest rate in the economy from 0.1% to 0.35%. In doing so, the predictions were confirmed that the Monetary Committee is expected to raise interest rates for the first time in three and a half years. Some experts even thought that the bank might raise the interest rate to 0.5% at once, but this forecast did not materialize. Following the increase in the basic interest rate, the prime interest rate will also rise this coming Thursday, after the banks are preparing for a change,...

The record for taking out mortgages by the public of apartment and house buyers in Israel was broken, just before the interest rate was raised: The volume of new mortgages taken by the public in March amounted to NIS 13.42 billion, about NIS 1 billion more than the previous record in December last year. This was reported by the Bank of Israel. This is an increase of 19.7% compared to the previous month and an increase of 55.7% compared to the corresponding period last year. In total, housing loans totaling 34.6 billion were taken out in the first quarter of the year, and 137 billion in the...

The average credit to a household in Israel in 2020, the first corona year, amounted to NIS 246.6 thousand, most of which was bank credit. This is an increase of only 2.3% compared to 2019, when the average credit amounted to NIS 240.7 thousand. At the same time, this is a much sharper increase of about 17% compared to 2016, when the average household credit amounted to NIS 219.1 thousand.

The chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, Shira Greenberg, undermines the Ministry of Housing's hopes that the prices of apartments in the free market will be curbed following the renewal of subsidized housing tenders.The increase in apartment seekers in the free market has led to an increase in general demand and an increase in apartment prices. This claim was also influenced by contractors and apartment marketers and was quoted extensively in the media. Accordingly, the Ministry of Housing argued that the resumption of lottery operations would return those eligible to the waiting...

The defense establishment has announced that it has successfully completed a series of experiments in a target interception system using a powerful laser. The experiments have taken place in recent weeks in an experimental field in the south of the country, in which the ground laser system intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles, shrapnel, rockets and anti-tank missiles in various scenarios. Israel is the first country in the world to present experimental results demonstrating operational capabilities for laser interception. During the experiment, the developers imagined the launches over...

The Israeli company Demostack - which was the first to develop a platform for creating demos for sales teams of SaaS companies, has completed a $ 34 million B round of funding. Tiger Global Management led the round of funding, with the participation of Bessemer Venture Partners, Amiti Ventures and Operator Collective. A year ago, Demostack completed the $ 13.5 million A round of funding, and at the end of 2020, the company raised $ 4 million. In total, the company raised $ 51.5 million over the course of a year and a half