IMF's report: Israel gaining safe haven status

The IMF economistspraised Israel's response to the recent economic crisis
 
A draft report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised Israel on its economic robustness in the face of the global storm, noting that growth didn't take much of a hit. The draft report opens, "Since the beginning of 2008 it appears that Israel hasbeen acquiring safe haven status”.
 
The IMF economists, who visited Israel preparing their report, praised Israel's response to the recent economic crisis, saying that the aggressive monetary expansion, which included non-conventional methods, and giving an opportunity to automatic stabilizers to be expressed in 2009 with the adoption of a two-year budget for 2009-2010, all were put into effect at the right time and at the required level.
 
The markets may have fallen sharply, but they didn't collapse, the IMF said, even though no bailout package was ultimately offered by the government.
 
Imports, exports and investment in fixed assets still haven't recovered in full and unemployment is high at 8.0%.