The Central Bureau of Statistics [CBS] reported that Israel’s economy achieved growth of only 0.3% in 2015’s second quarter.
According to Israel’s CBS, the economy grew by 2% in the first quarter of this year and had been expected to record 1.5% growth in the second quarter.
Growth lagged far behind the forecasts by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel, which predicted that the economy would grow by 3.2%. GDP grew by 2.6% in the first half of 2015 in annualized terms, compared with 2.5% and 2.4% in the second and first halves of 2014, respectively.
Israeli radio has reported that the ministries of finance and economy have both voiced their concern over the revelations. The slight increase in GDP in the second quarter reflects moderate annualized rises of 0.9% in private consumption, 0.4% in public consumption, and annualized declines of 3.8% in investments in fixed assets and 12.5% in exports of goods and services. Exports - some 40 per cent of Israel's economic activity - fell by double digits for a second straight quarter, as a result of a stronger shekel and slowing global trade.
