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The shekel-dollar rate

How low can you get? The shekel-dollar rate sank to a 28-month low Tuesday, and a dollar now is worth only a tad more than 3.46 shekels, compared with 3.50 shekels  a week ago and 3.75 a year ago. A shekel now is worth 29 cents, compared with 25 cents a year ago.

That means that American in Israel wanting to visit family in the United States can buy $100 with only 346 shekels. It also is bad news for American visiting Israel or earning dollars in Israel from abroad, who receive fewer shekels for a dollar.

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Tuesday’s trading sent the rate to its lowest level since the spring in 2011, and a foreign exchange specialist told Globes business newspaper, “There is no doubt that the negative pressure on the two currencies remains large and there is a risk of breaking significantly lower. The dollar is at high risk worldwide due to the positive sentiment in capital markets in recent weeks and record levels of share indices.

“If there is indeed a continued weakness of the dollar at the start of 2014, the Bank of Israel must take aggressive action to prevent a collapse. From a technical point of view the shekel-dollar exchange rate is exposed to falling to very dangerous levels such as NIS 3.42/$ and NIS 3.38/$.

The shekel dollar rate has not been this low since August 2011, when it reach 3.4 shekels to the dollar. The only other time it was lower was in 2008, when the rate fell  to 3.26.

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