Israel’s forex reserves hit new record in May

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of May 2025 rose to $223.626 billion – a new record – an increase of $1.591 billion from their level at the end of April, the Bank of Israel reports. The level of the reserves relative to GDP at the end of May was 40.8%.

The increase was the result of a revaluation that increased the reserves by about $2.446 billion, partly offset by the government’s foreign exchange activities totaling about $855 million.

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves have risen from $210.510 billion at the end of May 2024 to $223.626 billion at the end of last month, beating the previous record foreign exchange reserves of $222.035 billion at the end of April 2025.

Despite announcing in October 2023 at the start of the war, a plan to sell up to $30 billion in foreign currency to support the shekel, the Bank of Israel only sold $8.5 billion in foreign currency since the start of the war, most of it in October and November 2023.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 8, 2025.