"Since early 2008 it seems that Israel acquired the status of a safe haven, with sharp growth in the movement of capital into the market and the revaluation of the real exchange rate." So says the IMF in its world review.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised Israel's response to the recent economic crisis and said Israel had acquired a safe haven status. IMF economists noted that the aggressive monetary expansion executed by Israel, which included non-conventional methods, as well as the adoption of a two-year budget for 2009-2010, were all put into effect at the right time and at the required level.
"Israel endured the great recession well. Growth in Israel was among the first in the world to show a recovery – with a rise in GDP in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2009," the IMF said in a draft annual report".
The IMF also praised the Bank of Israel for being the first central bank globally to raise its key lending rate in over a year (in September 2009) as part of an exit strategy to reverse some of the monetary policies it had pursued in response to the global crisis.
Now that is the reality of Israel. Yes, there are stories concerning the state of Israel Palestinian relations but there is so much good news to report, one feels proud of the country and its achievements in 61 short years.
What will be in 2010? There are so many ideas for improving the quality of life, one can only say we live in exciting times.
Israel has more start-up companies in NASDAQ than all of Europe combined and all of China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India combined. Now, THAT is an achievement which deserves a Mazal Tov!!!! There are also plans to create a separate stock-exchange parallel to the TASE, for start-ups!
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