Israel’s foreign reserves fall by $7.3bln since start of war on Gaza

Israel’s foreign reserves fell by $7.3 billion in October to $191.2 billion, compared to $198.5 billion in September, as the central bank sought to defend the shekel following the start of the war, according to Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The Bank of Israel has launched a $30 billion programme to sell foreign exchange since the start of the military operation in the Gaza Strip; to prevent a sharp deterioration in the shekel’s exchange rate.

The shekel still slumped last month to weakest level since 2012. While, Israeli stocks also fell heavily as traders feared the war would escalate to become a regional conflict.