Bank of Israel buys $2.56bn of FX in August, reserves top $161bn
- Foreign currency purchases so far in 2020 have topped $14 billion.
- The central bank also said it had bought 29.9 billion shekels ($8.9 billion) of government bonds through Aug. 31 as part of a plan to buy up to 50 billion shekels.
JERUSALEM: The Bank of Israel said on Monday it bought $2.56 billion of foreign currency in August in a bid to contain the shekel's gains, pushing its forex reserves up to a record $161.69 billion.
Foreign currency purchases so far in 2020 have topped $14 billion.
The central bank also said it had bought 29.9 billion shekels ($8.9 billion) of government bonds through Aug. 31 as part of a plan to buy up to 50 billion shekels it announced in March in an aim to calm financial markets. That is up from 23.9 billion shekels at the end of July.
It also conducted repo transactions with bonds as collateral of 1.5 billion shekels, while its balance of dollar-shekel swaps on Aug. 31 remained steady at zero for the second month, down from $4.5 billion in June.
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