Israel’s Central Bank Sells $30 Billion In Forex Reserves After Shekel Skids To Almost 8-Year Low

Amid Israel-Palestine war, the Bank of Israel, for the very first time said it will sell up to $30 billion of foreign currency in the open market in order to maintain stability after the Israeli shekel plunged to an almost eight-year low against the dollar.

The central bank also said it would provide liquidity through SWAP mechanisms of up to $15 billion.

"The Bank of Israel will continue monitoring developments, tracking all the markets, and acting with the tools available to it as necessary," the statement from the central bank cited.

Ahead of the announcement, the shekel had weakened to nearly 7 year low of 3.92 per dollar, according to a Reuters report.

The shekel was already a battered currency, down 10% versus the dollar this yea so far, primarily due to the government's judicial overhaul plan that has restricted foreign investment, Reuters report showed.

Israel has foreign exchange reserves of more than $200 billion, a large part of it comes from buying forex since 2008 to try and keep the shekel from appreciating too much and harm exporters as foreign inflows to the technology sector spiked.