The foreign currency market showed stability even in exceptional circumstances, such as the resignation of the Minister of Finance and the incapacitation of the Prime Minister. (iii) We are buying government bonds. Despite these purchases, our longer-term (ten-year) interest is relatively high. The difference between long-term and short-term interest rates in Israel is much greater than those in the US and other countries.
We are making these purchases to try to lower the cost of long-term credit. These three aspects of monetary policy are acting to steer the economy towards a recovery. I would like to relate to the lag between events in the financial markets and those on the real side.