Bank of Israel slashes rates to 0.1%

The Bank of Israel announces it is cutting interest rates to 0.1%, hoping to help the coronavirus-battered economy weather the crisis.

The move follows other similar rate cuts in the US and around the world, which have generally caused temporary jumps in the stock market.

The rate matches the lowest ever and brings the bank back to where it was from 2015 until 2018, when it sought to spur lending to ease a housing crisis.

The bank says the the crisis has “led to a shock in capital markets in Israel and worldwide, with steep declines in equity prices and an increase in volatility and risk.”

It says GDP contracted by 5% in the first quarter of 2020, and 5% negative growth is predicted for the next quarter as well.