Analysis-War clouds Israel's interest rate outlook
Israel's war with Palestinian militant group Hamas has upended expectations of where Israeli short-term interest rates are headed as policymakers try to balance a sliding shekel and slowing economy with already above-target inflation. Less than three weeks ago markets and analysts were predicting at least one more rate hike by early 2024, possibly as soon as this week, after an aggressive run of tightening that took the benchmark interest rate from 0.1% in April 2022 to 4.75% in May 2023. But after Hamas gunmen from Gaza launched the deadliest attack on Israel's civilians in the c...