In The Days

• Source: Ynet News
• Author: Gad Lior
• News Date: 11/26/07

Country’s international financial rating to be bumped up for first time in 13 years, from –A to A. New ranking will improve Israel’s position, pull in international financial market

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.”
—Deuteronomy 28:13

Israel’s international credit ranking will be upgraded in early 2008, for the first time in 13 years, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.

A country’s international credit ranking is determined by three of the world’s leading credit-rating companies: Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor and Fitch.

The three’s decision on a country’s financial rating is a testament to its financial stability, the solidity of its national financial performance and its pull in the international financial community.

According to the report, Standard & Poor and Fitch have tipped off the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel to the coming move, which is expected to upgrade Israel’s international credit ranking from –A to A.

The new credit ranking is expected to facilitate Israel in paying off national loans by making their terms more flexible, virtually freeing up millions of dollars of State funds in the next few years.

Israel credit status was jeopardized by the Second Lebanon War, as the international financial community feared a regional deterioration.

The current change in credit ranking has been explained by Israel’s speedy recovery from last summer’s war, low inflation rates, overall steady growth and the steady decline in unemployment levels shown over the past four years.