Bank of Israel employees are intensifying their sanctions this week because no wage agreement has been signed and because Ministry of Finance Director of Wages has ordered bank employees to return excess salary and benefits payments. Tonight, Cohen will publish a list of repayments demanded from hundreds of Bank of Israel employees, against whom lawsuits will be filed.
On Friday, Bank of Israel workers committee chairperson Rimona Leibowitz ordered the shutdown of the Bank of Israel’s clearing and updates system vis-à-vis the commercial banks. This means that the banks will not be able to deposit or withdraw money in their accounts with the Bank of Israel, nor will they be able to verify their account balances.
Sources said that the Bank of Israel’s workers committee will convene tomorrow for a status assessment and decide on further sanctions. The employees have meanwhile stopped working the night shift, which means that the dealing room is closed.
At the moment, there are no plans to halt the supply of cash to banks and ATMs, nor is there any concern about a cash shortage because the banks stocked up last week in anticipation of a strike at the Bank of Israel.
The new sanctions are expected to disrupt the Bank of Israel’s discussions ahead of the April interest rate decision, due in two weeks.
The board of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) held an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss the ramifications of the sanctions at the Bank of Israel. The TASE is considering halting the trading in securities, particularly in view of the shutting down of the bank’s clearing system and closing the night shift at the dealing room at 10 pm.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 11, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007