Passover, taking off the masks and storming the malls: Is the corona era over?
The abolition of the obligation to wear masks in closed spaces together with the seasonal shopping fever of Pesach made April 2022 a month of record shopping: Israelis spent more than NIS 35 billion in markets and malls, after a relatively weak first quarter.
Is the corona era in the Israeli economy over?
Walla!
Of money
08/05/2022
Sunday, 08 May 2022, 08:44 Updated: 09:13
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The corona is behind us, finally.
According to data from the ISA, it turns out that we, the Israelis, stormed the shopping centers, markets and malls during April - and when you add to this the surprisingly better and better-forecast employment conditions, it seems possible to say with due caution, but with full mouth: Israel has finally recovered from the corona
. A (automatic banking services) reported that in April credit card expenses amounted to
more than 35.238 billion shekels - an increase of 10.5% compared to last year, a figure that on the one hand is expected - since Passover this year falls in mid-April, but on the other hand surprising in March April 2021 marked the completion of the second round of vaccinations and a return to routine.
And not just on credit.
The GSA also reported that expenditures on physical purchases in businesses reached a peak with a daily average of NIS 543.41 million.
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Our spending over two years of Corona
As mentioned, the ISA's data on the Israeli public's spending on credit cards for April 2022 give another indication of the economy's recovery from the corona crisis, when the average daily expenditure on physical purchases, made in the businesses themselves, reached a peak
of NIS 543.41 million.
In physical purchases and is 1% higher than the previous record recorded in August 2021 and stood at NIS
538.98
million.
Through physical acquisitions, NIS 16,302 billion was reached in April, compared with April two years ago, during which expenditures on physical acquisitions amounted to NIS 7.533 billion. This is a 2.2-fold
jump
.
The corona is behind us ".
Governor of the Bank of Israel, Prof. Amir Yaron.
Will raise interest rates soon? (Photo: Government Press Office)
Expectation of an interest rate hike in the coming days
It should be noted that along with an improvement in unemployment data, the first quarter of 2022 has so far been characterized by mixed data, some even pointing to a slowdown in economic activity compared to the first quarter of 2021, which marked expectations for a global economic recovery.
It now remains to be seen whether the increased activity of consumers in Israel in April indicates a seasonal peak (mainly due to Passover) or heralds an increase in economic activity.
In any case, this figure, together with unemployment figures that herald a slump in the number of unemployed in the economy, will probably encourage the Bank of Israel to raise the interest rate further in the coming days, possibly even higher than the previous interest rate update, less than a month ago.
Of money
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Malls
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Corona
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