JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Four of the five rate
setters at the Bank of Israel supported hiking the benchmark
interest rate by 50 basis points to a more than
14-year high of 4.25% at their Feb. 20 meeting in a move aimed
at reining in inflation, the central bank's minutes showed on
Monday.
One other member of the monetary policy committee (MPC)
voted for a smaller 25 basis point increase to 4%.
The hike, which had been expected, was the central bank's
eighth such move in an aggressive tightening cycle since last
April and followed a 50 basis point hike in January.
Inflation reached a 5.4% rate in January, its highest since
2008.
The committee usually has six voting members but one
policymaker stepped down and was not yet replaced.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer)
Messaging: steven.scheer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: @StevenMScheer))
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