Israel: bonds, indices, credit ratings

Like most governments worldwide, the Israeli government addresses its domestic debt by issuing government bonds to raise funds from the public and to recycle previously issued bonds reaching maturity. The Israeli bond market offers corporate bonds of the largest and most successful firms in Israel, and governmental bonds, including unlinked fixed-rate and floating-rate bonds, T-Bills, and CPI-linked bonds. Bonds trade locally on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The Israeli bond market has grown tremendously during the last decade, due largely to the impact of reforms in 2005-2006, which improved on the already highly-developed and computerized trading venue.
The Israeli corporate bond market is strong, after taking a hit in 2008-2009. Israeli tycoons were buying assets for high prices-which were acceptable at the time-and financed their purchases by issuing bonds. They then took a hit when the global financial crises ensued. Even though some Israeli firms are still struggling to recover, most of them-particularly the banks, communication, pharmaceutical and chemical firms-are very strong. Israeli firms managed to raise NIS 43B in 2010, almost double what they raised in 2008.