Loans

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron speaks during a press conference at the Bank of Israel in Jerusalem, on January 7, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Bank of Israel head urges lenders to pay fair interest on deposits, current accounts

Central bank chief instructs banks to fully pass on interest rates to deposit holders and come up with a plan to pay interest on the billions of shekels sitting in current accounts

June 20, 2023, 5:08 pm

Bank of Israel head urges lenders to pay fair interest on deposits, current accounts

Central bank chief instructs banks to fully pass on interest rates to deposit holders and come up with a plan to pay interest on the billions of shekels sitting in current accounts

By Sharon Wrobel

BlackRock's office in the Hudson Yards neighborhood of New York City. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

June 8, 2023, 3:05 pm

BlackRock snaps up provider of loans to Israeli and European startups

With offices in Israel, Kreos lends to startups including Israeli taxi-hailing app Gett, energy tech firm SolarEdge, and biotech firm BiolineRX

By Sharon Wrobel

View of the Bank Hapoalim offices in the center of Tel Aviv. August 4, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

May 22, 2023, 2:06 pm

Bank Hapoalim posts NIS 2.01b quarterly profit fueled by 49% jump in interest income

Net profit surges 21.3%, prompting bank to raise dividend payout 10 percentage points to 40% of quarterly profit as it benefits from steady interest rate hikes over past year

By Sharon Wrobel

Illustrative: Tear gas is fired during a demonstration by retired Lebanese army and security forces veterans, demanding inflation-adjustments to their pensions, outside the government palace headquarters in the center of Beirut on March 22, 2023. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP)

March 23, 2023, 5:07 pm

IMF warns Lebanon at ‘very dangerous moment’ amid failure to pass crucial reforms

Fund’s delegation fears country faces ‘never-ending crisis,’ as Beirut struggles to approve changes to unlock $3 billion conditional loan to salvage freefalling economy

By Aya Iskandarani

Illustrative image: Israelis walk next to Bank Leumi in Jerusalem on November 16, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

March 14, 2023, 5:52 pm

Leumi posts biggest profit among Israel’s banks, fueled by steady rate hike

Net profit in 2022 rose 27% to a record NIS 7.7 billion; net interest income jumped 28% to NIS 13.2 billion versus the previous year

By Sharon Wrobel

Illustrative: Campaign posters prior to general elections, in Tel Aviv, on March 17, 2021. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

January 17, 2023, 5:05 pm

Parties have racked up nearly a quarter of a billion shekels in election debts

Likud owes Knesset NIS 70 million, while Jewish Home and Meretz are unlikely to be able to pay back the tens of millions they owe after failing to enter parliament

By Tani Goldstein

A construction site in the central Israeli city of Be'er Ya'akov, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

October 21, 2022, 4:56 pm

Borrowing for home purchases continues freefall amid higher rates, prices

Israelis took out 20% less in mortgages from August to September, Bank of Israel figures show, bringing lending to lowest level in a year; interest rates expected to keep going up

By Danielle Nagler

November 25, 2020, 4:47 pm

Matti Munk

End of Covid mortgage holiday – will housing prices fall?

Of the million Israelis furloughed or fired after Covid-19 took over our lives, almost 200,000 households chose to put home-loan payments on hold; this holiday is all about over

Masterpieces by Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin and Monet that were borrowed by a South Korean museum from the Israel Museum and recently returned to the Jerusalem institution in November 2020 after a prolonged stay due to the coronavirus (Courtesy Israel Museum)

November 22, 2020, 3:28 pm

After loan extended by COVID-19, South Korea returns art masterpieces to Israel

Israel Museum’s Impressionist and post-Impressionist art was supposed to come home from Hangaram Art Museum in May, and then again in August. It’s finally made it

By Jessica Steinberg

View of the Bank of Israel in Jerusalem, February 25, 2015. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

September 29, 2020, 7:22 pm

Bank of Israel defers loan returns until end of year

Borrowers can delay payments until end of 2020 as pandemic wreaks havoc on economy; however, postponement will have additional costs

By ToI Staff

The offices of Ogen, in Tel Aviv (Courtesy)

June 1, 2020, 12:19 pm

Social lender raises $30 million for small business loans amid pandemic

Ogen Group says funds will also be used to provide low interest and no-interest loans to nonprofit organizations and unemployed and furloughed workers

By Shoshanna Solomon

Moshe Nadler (right), pictured outside the Knesset in Jerusalem before submitting a 50,000 signature petition calling on lawmakers to cut their salaries in solidarity with the nation, May 4, 2020. (Courtesy, Moshe Nadler)

May 7, 2020, 11:13 am

Israel’s coronavirus aid package only half that of similar developed nations

Financial assistance equivalent to 5.5% of GDP puts country way behind nations with similar economies, study finds

By Sue Surkes

In this April 21, 2019 photo, Palestinian groom Yehiya Taleb, center, move a mirror, part of his wedding furniture, to his apartment in Shati refugee camp, Gaza City. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

May 23, 2019, 12:46 pm

For Gaza grooms, crippling debt overshadows marital bliss

Amid economic crisis, thousands of Palestinians in Strip have taken loans to get married, only to discover they can’t make good

By Agencies

Husam Jarushi, a reported mobster linked to suspected wrongdoing by Likud MK David Bitan, in court on December 4, 2017 (screen capture: Hadashot)

December 5, 2017, 4:38 pm

Meet the Jarushis, the crime family linked to Likud MK David Bitan

A member of the Ramle organization is at the center of an investigation into alleged bribes taken by the coalition whip

By Simona Weinglass

Buildings under construction in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba outside Hebron, July 6, 2016 (AFP/Hazem Bader)

September 13, 2017, 8:06 pm

Rights group slams Israeli banks for supporting settlements

Human Rights Watch raps banks for giving loans to home buyers, settlement councils, building companies in West Bank; expert dispute its findings

By AP and ToI Staff