Bank of Israel puts war cost at $53B in fullest tally yet

Israel’s central bank laid out its most detailed assessment yet of the economic implications of the war with Hamas, as it holds off on interest-rate cuts in favor of stabilizing markets, Report informs via Bloomberg.

An updated outlook from the bank’s research department put the conflict’s “gross effect” on Israel at 198 billion shekels ($53 billion), with defense expenditure comprising more than half of the total. The war’s fiscal price tag was previously estimated at 180 billion shekels in 2023-2024 by Leader Capital Markets, with the Finance Ministry saying it’s costing the economy close to $270 million every day.