Bank of Israel

Infobox Central bank
bank_name_in_local = בנק ישראל (Hebrew)
image_1 = Bank_of_Israel_logo.pngimage_title_1 = Bank of Israel logo
image_width_1 = 213
image_2 =
image_title_2 =
headquarters = Jerusalem, Israel
president = Stanley Fischer
leader_title = Governor
bank_of = Israel
currency = New Israeli sheqel
currency_iso = ILS
borrowing_rate = 4.00%
deposit_rate = 4.00%
website = [http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/ www.bankisrael.gov.il]
footnotes =The Bank of Israel ( _he. בנק ישראל _ar. بنك إسرائيل) is the central bank of Israel. The Bank of Israel is located in Jerusalem, with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Stanley Fischer.

History

At independence in 1948, the power of note issuance was vested with the Anglo-Palestine Bank, which was refounded as Bank Leumi in 1950. Monetary policy and banking supervision remained controlled by the Ministry of Finance.

The Bank of Israel was founded on August 24, 1954, when the Knesset passed the Bank of Israel Act, which passed control over note issuance and banking supervision. Control over foreign exchange was not ceded to the bank until 1978. Since 1992, the bank has set an inflation target and been empowered to manage the monetary policy so as to meet that target. The bank complies with the ramifications of loans and interest in Judaism.

Governors of the Bank

* David Horowitz, 1954 - 1971
* Moshe Sanbar, 1971 - 1976
* Arnon Gafni, 1976 - 1981
* Dr. Moshe Mendelbaum, 1982 - 1986
* Prof. Michael Bruno, 1986 - 1991
* Prof. Jacob A. Frenkel, 1991 - 2000
* Dr. David Klein, 2000 - 2005
* Prof. Stanley Fischer, 2005 - present

Decision making

The Bank of Israel is rather unusual in that the Governor alone decides whether to change rates or keep them on hold. Prior to this decision, discussions are held at two levels - first in a broad and then in a narrow forum.

The broad forum sees the Governor, Deputy Governor, departmental directors and departmental economists come together, and the economists present current economic and financial conditions and data.

The narrow forum consists only of the Governor, Deputy Governor and the departmental directors, and is far more discussion oriented. The directors present their opinions and recommendations, which the Governor questions and weighs before reaching his decision.

ee also

* New Israeli sheqel

Lists

*List of central banks

External links

* en [http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/ Official site: Bank of Israel]
* [http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/press/eng/070129/070129i.htm The Bank of Israel lowers the interest rate for February 2007 by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent ] - Press release
* [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3350052,00.html Exports Boost Economy in Israel] - Research Performed by Bank of Israel
* [http://sheqel.info SHEQEL - The Online Catalog of Israel Numismatics 1927 - present]