Israeli New Shekel (NIS) and US Dollar (USD)
The Israeli New Shekel replaces the old Shekel in 1996. Currently, the exchange rate for Israeli New Shekel (NIS) and US Dollar (USD) is about NIS 3.757 compared to 1 US Dollar(USD).
For a country where access is restricted by nationality (Israel is out of bounds for most nationalities from Arab countries), Israeli Shekel is nevertheless a hard currency, and the derivative is even traded on the Chicago Merchantile Exchange (CME). Therefore, the Israeli Shekel is in an enviable position of being one of the 20 currencies in the world where derivatives are publicly traded.
The Bank of Israel controls the monetary policy of Israel. As recent as August 2009, it has bought over $4 billion worh of US Dollars – this sends its known foreign currency reserves above $56 billion. This purchase has slighted inched the exchange rate between the NIS/USD slightly lower.
In the long run, the Shekel is expected to trade within a narrow exchange rate band with the US Dollar. Historically, this is supported by the observation on the trading trend of the over the Israeli New Shekel (NIS) and US Dollar (USD)past few years. A year ago in Aug 2008, the shekel-dollar exchange rate was NIS 3.582/USD$. This represents a variance of just 5% over a one year period. For tourists, there is therefore no real opportunity to size up the best change rate of the Israeli New Shekel (NIS) and US Dollar (USD).
Just be happy that you are able to visit Israel based on your nationality in the first place.
