It’s no secret that Israeli bank profits have taken a hit, and that even with historically low interest rates, they haven’t been quick to pull the trigger and open up their lending coffers. It’s also been well documented that the local banks have concentrated loan portfolios, choosing to forgo lending to you and I in favor of handing over the keys to the safe for the 10 tycoon families that control the Israeli economy. Even with many of these tycoons having funded their international real estate holdings by issuing debt locally, and having little chance of actually paying back the principal, the question of the solvency of the Israeli banking system has yet to be raised publicly. Until today.
Globes reports: “As far as I know, no bank in Israel is at risk of collapse,” Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav told “IDF Radio” (Galei Zahal) this morning.”
Wow! Where did that come from? When you hear that you immediately think that there probably is a problem bubbling away. The bank of Israel and Ministry of Finance have been so far behind this economic crisis. Now we have a director talk about a bank collapse. Sure sounds fishy to me.
I am not hear to scare the public, but i think that bank customers need to be extra vigilant and keep their eyes and ears open to interpret both what’s being said and what’s not being said.
About Aaron Katsman
Stop fear mongering, no israeli bank is going to fail