JERUSALEM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli currency rose to a 24-year record high against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, according to exchange rates issued by Bank Leumi, one of Israel's biggest banks.
The new shekel exchange rate against the dollar fell to 3.2255 shekels for 1 dollar, lower than the representative rate of 3.227 shekels set in November 1996.
Later in the day, the representative exchange rate of the shekel against the dollar was set by Israel's central bank at 3.234 shekels for 1 dollar.
The Hebrew-language news website Ynet reported that the slight increase in the dollar against the shekel ahead of setting the representative exchange rate came after the central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market and purchased about 250 million dollars.
Since the beginning of 2020, the central bank has purchased about 20 billion dollars in the foreign exchange market, a significantly higher amount than in previous years.
The website's analysts estimated that the dollar exchange rate may fall to a 3-shekel rate in the coming weeks. Enditem
