IMF revises Israel’s economic growth in recent report; Economic growth of 3.6% predicted for 2018; Israel has had record number of tourists in 2018.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted Israel’s economy will grow 3.6% by the end of 2018 and 3.5% percent in 2019.
In its recent report on global economies, the IMF revised its prior prediction from March of 3.3% growth for Israel’s economic growth to 3.6%. According to the report, Israel’s inflation is expected to rise to 0.9% opposed to 0.7%.
In May of this year, the IMF released a report highlighting Israel’s housing market and low unemployment. It reported that Israel’s “inflation remained below the 1–3% target range,” predicting “prospects for the next few years are for growth to remain around 3½ percent with inflation rising gradually.”
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released a report on Israel’s all-time high in tourism in 2018. Over 3.1 million tourists visited Israel through January to September in 2018, a 17% increase from 2017. There were 3.836 million tourists in 2017 and 3.069 million tourists in 2016.
And in August, Standard and Poor’s upgraded Israel’s score from an A+ to AA- in its half-year report, the highest score Israel has received to date. Prior to the increased credit rating, both S&P and Moody’s Investors Service’s raised their ratings for Israel’s from “stable” to “positive”. Israel’s strong economy and a trend of lower government debt led to the increases in scores and outlook. It cited reasons for the upgrade in a press release given Israel’s “prosperous and resilient economy, strong institutions, ongoing fiscal consolidation, and robust external performance”.
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