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Israel's foreign exchange reserves fell by 5.1 billion U.S. dollars in March amid the coronavirus pandemic, registering the biggest ever monthly decline of the country's forex reserves.
According to data released by Israel's central bank on Tuesday, Israel's forex reserves totaled about 126 billion dollars at the end of March, compared with about 131.1 billion dollars at the end of February 2020.
The latest reserve amount represents 31.9 percent of Israel's gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 33.2 percent at the end of February.
The bank explained that the decrease was the result of an injection of short-term dollar credit totaling 7.5 billion dollars into the Israeli financial system.
Also, a revaluation, including Bank of Israel payments and receipts in foreign currency, decreased the reserves by approximately 2.3 billion dollars.
On the other hand, the decrease was partly offset by private sector transfers, foreign exchange purchases by the Bank of Israel and government transfers from abroad.
