Knocking Shekel Off Track May Be More Than $30 Billion Problem
Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg News A Star of David hangs over customers shopping at a fruit and vegetable stall in Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. Israel s economy grew an estimated 3.3% in 2019, beating the central bank s forecast, with public and private consumption leading the expansion. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) The Bank of Israelâs pledge to buy an unprecedented $30 billion to weaken the shekel might not be enough to do the trick.
From a current-account surplus to record technology investment and increased natural-gas exports, the backdrop is favorable to currency appreciation. A global recovery from the coronavirus crisis, rising stock markets and a weakening dollar are expected to only further buttress a currency that was a top global performer last year.
Shoshanna Solomon is The Times of Israel s Startups and Business reporter
Illustrative: Safety jackets hang at a factory in southern Israel on March 13, 2018. (AP/Ariel Schalit)
Marian Cohen, the chairman of Israel’s Mer Group, has overcome many crises in his 36 years at the tech holding firm, from rocket attacks hampering production and deliveries to a credit crunch in the Great Recession of 2008.
But the strengthening of the Israeli shekel against the US dollar is creating an “existential crisis” that outstrips those other challenges, he says, leaving him and other industrialists struggling for a response.
“In the first Lebanon war we knew we had to grit our teeth and go on, and during Operation Protective Edge there were rockets flying over Ashkelon,” said Cohen, 64, referring to the 1982 war and the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, respectively. “Both were existential crises, one could say. But we knew that it would end one day. During the 2008-2009 financial crisis we
Abu Dhabi Ports excels despite 2020 disruption
In facing the extraordinary challenge of a once in a generation pandemic, Abu Dhabi Ports has weathered 2020 particularly well, continuing to grow and expand its overall capacity and capabilities and emerge stronger than ever before.
With the advent of COVID-19, the company successfully raised its profile worldwide as a responsible player in the trade and logistics sector with the Horns of Hope campaign. This innovative initiative reached more than 260 million people in over 23 countries and involved leading global and regional organisations, such as the International Maritime Organisation and the Arab Sea Ports Federation.
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Abu Dhabi Ports achieves targets despite challenges
ABU DHABI, December 31, 2020 In facing the extraordinary challenge of a once in a generation pandemic, Abu Dhabi Ports has weathered 2020 particularly well, continuing to grow and expand its overall capacity and capabilities and emerge stronger than ever before. With the advent of Covid-19, the company successfully raised its profile worldwide as a responsible player in the trade and logistics sector with the Horns of Hope campaign. This innovative initiative reached more than 260 million people in over 23 countries and involved leading global and regional organisations, such as the International Maritime Organisation and the Arab Sea Ports Federation.
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