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Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c40174a-aaa0-11dd-897c-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Financial Caution Pays Off for Israel
[Financial Times-UK] Tobias Buck - As the credit crisis spreads havoc and economic gloom around the globe, bankers and policymakers in Israel are growing in confidence that they will weather the storm. The Bank of Israel expects the economy to grow by 4.5% this year and about 2.7% in 2009. This is less than in each of the past five years, when Israel clocked up growth rates of more than 5%. But that expansion contrasts with the faltering economies of Western Europe and the U.S. "We entered this period in relatively good shape. In particular, we started with a budget that was essentially in balance," said Stanley Fischer, the governor of the Bank of Israel. He said there was no sign the country was slipping into a recession and that "the credit system continues to operate." Fischer said Israel's banks had largely shunned mortgage-backed securities and other risky assets, and were "barely exposed to the subprime crisis."