The Bank of Israel on August 7 published a monetary policy report for the first half of 2012, forecasting a continuation of moderate growth in Israel but warning that if current circumstances persist, this will have to change.

The report said the growth forecast for 2012 remained unchanged at 3.1%, supported by two 25-basis-point interest rate cuts in February and July to the current 2.25%. However, the central bank identified a number of areas of weakness that had emerged in July, including a