Fitch Affirms Israel’s A+ Rating with a Stable Outlook

Fitch Ratings affirmed on Wednesday Israel’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook.

“Israel’s economy rebounded strongly by about 6.5% in 2021 due to the removal of Covid-19-related restrictions and a strong rise in private consumption. We forecast real GDP to grow by 4.5% in 2022 and 3.8% in 2023. A revision of historical GDP data points to potential GDP growth of about 3.6%-3.8%,” the company stated.

Israel’s ‘A+’ rating “balances a diversified, resilient and high value-added economy, strong external finances and solid institutional strength against a high government debt/GDP ratio, elevated security risks and a record of weak governments which has hindered fiscal policy-making,” Fitch explained.

This positive news about Israel’s economy came hours after the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 8.1% in 2021, after shrinking by 2.2% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth figure for 2021 beat the Bank of Israel forecast of 7.5%.

Israel’s GDP grew 16.6% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter of 2021, after growing at only 2.4% in the third quarter.

The GDP per capita grew by 6.3% in 2021 after shrinking by 3.9% in 2020. GDP per capita rose by an average of 5% in OECD countries in 2021.

Private consumption in Israel rose 11.7% in 2021, after falling 9.2% in 2020. Private consumption per capita in 2021, rose 9.9%, very close to the Bank of Israel forecast of 10%.