Financial experts believe Israeli shekel could become best currency investment of 2023
Financial analysts believe the Israeli shekel could emerge as the best currency for investments in 2023, Bloomberg News reports.
The upbeat assessment of the shekel contradicts recent warnings that the Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial overhaul plans could undermine Israel’s economy.
Geoffrey Yu, currency and macro strategist at BNY Mellon in London, believes the recent weakening of the shekel will soon be reversed.
“We do not see a paradigm shift at present. For the first time in nearly two years, our clients are flat the shekel and there is scope for further gains or purchases up ahead,” he said.
Peter Kisler, a fund manager at the London-based Trium Capital, is another respected financial analyst who shares Yu’s assessment.
Henrik Gullberg, a Stockholm-based economist, stressed that the Israeli shekel has been “so out of whack with traditional drivers” that it would likely be able to weather the current legal and political crisis in the country.
In recent years, the Israeli shekel has ranked consistently among the world’s best-performing currencies. However, last month, the shekel lost 6% of its value, placing it as the third worst-performing currency after the Russian ruble and the Korean won. The recent decline in the shekel’s value is closely connected to the growing market uncertainty surrounding the Israeli government’s legal reform plans.
However, financial services firm J.P. Morgan believes the fundamentals of the Israeli economy remain strong.
“We have had some increased noise in recent days on the developing political situation in Israel. Our ultimate takeaway is that this is largely noise,” the firm stated.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.