Economic growth
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Lehman Brothers Bank: Israeli economy will be strong in 2008
American investment bank publicized its 2008 economic forecast. Israel’s fiscal growth to drop from 5.4% in 2007 to 4.3% in 2008. Bank estimates dollar exchange to stand at 3.75 NIS at end of 2008
American investment bank Lehman Brothers published its global economic forecast for 2008 Sunday. At a Tel-Aviv press conference, Len Rosen, CEO of Lehman Brothers Israel, and senior analyst Joseph Wolf, announced the bank’s forecast for both the global and Israeli economies.
The bank’s forecast for the Israeli economy is positive overall, and gives much credence to the Israeli market among other developing economies. Israel’s economy will continue to be fairly robust in 2008, according to the bank’s report, though fiscal growth should drop from 5.4% to 4.3% in the upcoming year.
In the past year Israel’s economy has benefited from increased individual consumption and foreign capital investment, according to Lehman Brothers.
This is validated by gauges of foreign investor confidence, which seem to indicate that foreign investors feel increasingly confident to invest in the Israeli market, and are attuned to the Israeli economy.
Joseph Wolf, senior analyst at Lehman Brothers Israel, also gave a rather optimistic forecast for the Israeli shekel, noting that the local currency will continue to trade at steady rates over the next couple of years. The bank estimates that the dollar will trade at 3.75 NIS by the end of 2008, and that this exchange rate will hold steady for 2009 as well.
Lehman Brothers Bank has recently also started to monitor the Israeli Stock Exchange, and notes three preferential Israeli stocks which are expected to rise in the upcoming year: namely Bezeq, Discount Bank, and Israel Chemicals.
As for the global economy, the forecast is far less glowing. Lehman Brothers reports that the global economy, especially the American economy, will continue to be “sluggish” in 2008, with overall growth rates standing at 1.8% alone.
