Bank of Israel Deputy Governor Andrew Abir suggested on Monday that more interest rate increases were possible as inflation remains "sticky" above a 5% rate, Reuters reported. He was speaking to Reuters the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a half a percentage point to 4.25%, its highest level since late 2008. Abir said in choosing the more aggressive move, rather than a quarter-point rise, "it's important to show our determination to bring down the level of inflation." Last month Abir had said the terminal rate would be 4% or a bit above but on Monday, he declined to project a peak, saying much depended on future data. "Monetary policy-tightening is working, but we still think we've got some way to go in order to bring inflation down to our target," Abir said in an interview. Israel's inflation rate hit a 2008 high of 5.4% in January, above an official annual target of 1-3%.
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