Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer welcomed the new Bank of Israel bill, which passed its first Knesset reading, saying he hopes the House "will soon pass the bill in its second and third readings and that it will come into effect."

According to Globes, Fischer – speaking in a Bank of Israel conference – listed the Bank's priorities: "Our first challenge is to begin implementation of the new law and the system that it defines, in a way that will serve Israel and the Israeli economy. We'll have to begin this almost immediately.

"The second challenge is clear to all of us: management of monetary policy on a path that emerges from the global financial and economic crisis."

Fischer further predicted that the global economy would continue recovering from the recession: "Around the world, we're seeing slow growth rates, and there are differences between countries."

As for the Bank's intervention in the foreign currency market, Fischer said that "a central bank in a small, open economy cannot be indifferent to developments. We can gradually scale back the need to intervene in the foreign currency market. This is our hope, but it strongly depends on what happens in the world."