Brosh called on the central bank to cut interest rates from the current 3.75% to 2% by the end of the year to reach an inflation target of between 1.5% and 2%
Shraga Brosh, President of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, urged last week the Treasury and the Bank of Israel to act quickly and drastically to help with the crisis the export industry faces, as the continued drop in the dollar causes millions of shekels in losses.
Brosh spoke at an urgent meeting held last week with leading industrialists and officials of the Treasury and the Bank of Israel in Tel Aviv. Brosh emphasized before the Treasury and the Bank of Israel that "Fast action needs to be taken to save the Israeli export industry and avert thousands of layoffs."
The meeting was called following an announcement made earlier last week by the Manufacturers that the weakening dollar was continuing to take a toll on hi-tech exporters, who had lost NIS 500 million over the past four months and were considering changing production locations.
Brosh called on the central bank to cut interest rates from the current 3.75% to 2% by the end of the year to reach an inflation target of between 1.5% and 2% and move the shekel-dollar exchange rate to NIS 4.1. Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel Zvi Eckstein stressed, however,that the central bank had no intention to intervene in the current crisis.
