Israel received $1.04 billion worth of foreign direct investment through local banks in February, up from $448 million in January and $337 million in December, the Bank of Israel says.
Foreign direct investment in February mainly jumped due to a $630 million investment by a US company in an Israeli software services firm. In February, NCR completed its acquisition of Israeli retail software company Retalix.
Foreigners invested a net $220 million in shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in February, following net investment of $340 million in January.
In February, foreigners invested around $300 million net in unlinked government bonds and sold around $50 million in short-term bills called makams.
Preliminary figures for March indicate sales of about $90 million in makams, sales of $360 million in government bonds and sales of $60 million in Tel Aviv-traded shares.