Gold prices steady ahead of Fed decision, Trump’s tariff deadline
Investing.com -- The Bank of Israel has kept its policy rate steady at 4.5%, a decision that aligns with the unanimous consensus.
The central bank’s main forward guidance also remains unaltered. As per the guidance, amid ongoing warfare, the Monetary Committee is prioritizing market stabilization and uncertainty reduction, along with price stability and economic activity support. The path of the interest rate will be set based on the convergence of inflation to its target, continued financial market stability, economic activity, and fiscal policy.
The statement accompanying the decision had a balanced tone. The inflation discussion was more hawkish. The Bank of Israel did not mention the impact of the VAT increase when discussing the inflation’s distance to the target range. There was no discussion that would provide context to the headline inflation number such as the momentum of subcomponents or items driving the recent inflation surprise. Only the potential for inflation to increase was mentioned.
For the first time in a while, the Bank of Israel also included some dovish notes when discussing two markets that were previously seen as sources of inflationary pressure: the labor market and the housing market. The labor market is described as still tight, but the bank noted the gradual increase in the unemployment rate in recent months. The bank led its discussion on the housing market with the statement that it slowed in March.
Citi economists have maintained their view that rate cuts will only restart in the fall.
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