Bank of Israel predicts more than a year to erase unemployment spike

In another move aimed at spurring lending and jump-starting Israel’s economy, the Bank of Israel announces it will offer banks three-year loans at a fixed rate of 0.1%, so long as the banks extend loans to “small and micro businesses.”

The bank says that if Israel starts to roll back restrictions by late June, the economy will likely rebound and see growth in 2021. However, it predicts that will take until late 2021 for unemployment numbers to return to pre-crisis levels.

But it warns that “there is considerable uncertainty regarding the forecast crisis, in view of the lack of clarity about the length and magnitude of the crisis.”