Bank of Israel: foreign currency reserves rise to record US$77.4b

As reported in Port2port:

The increase was the result of: Purchases of US$1,495 million of foreign exchange, A revaluation that increased the reserves by US$1,454 million and an increase of US$14 million deriving from private sector transactions

The Bank of Israel reported last week that Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of April 2011 stood at US$77,406 million, an increase of US$2,880 million from their level at the end of March.

The increase was the result of:
a. Purchases of US$1,495 million of foreign exchange by the Bank of Israel
b. A revaluation that increased the reserves by US$1,454 million
c. an increase of US$14 million deriving from private sector transactions.

These were partly offset by government transfers to abroad of US$83 million.
The Bank of Israel has bought US$48.6 billion in foreign currency since launching its dollar purchasing program in March 2008.