Jerusalem, Israel – Israel’s third-quarter economic growth slowed due to weaker consumer spending, but it still seems likely that rising inflation will lead to a significant Bank of Israel rate increase the next week, Reuters reported.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics’ first estimate released on Wednesday, the gross domestic product increased 2.1 percent annually between July and September compared to the previous three months.
The second quarter’s economic growth was revised up from the first quarter’s 6.9 percent growth to 7.3 percent
Jonathan Katz, chief economist at Leader Capital Markets, told Reuters that there were no signs of a “significant deceleration” in the third quarter other than in consumer durables.
The annual inflation rose to 5.1 percent in October from 4.6 percent in September, well above an official 1-3 percent target, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
According to central bank projections, Israel’s GDP grew more than 8 percent in 2021 and is projected to increase by 6 percent in 2022 before declining to 3 percent in 2019.