JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Bank of Israel on Monday denied a report that Governor Amir Yaron has decided not to seek a second term, reiterating he would announce his decision around the time of the main Jewish holidays in September-October.
Earlier, Army Radio reported that Yaron would not seek another term. His current five-year appointment expires at the end of the year.
The issue of whether Yaron would seek or be reappointed to a second term has been hanging over financial markets for months and the governor has repeatedly said he would make his decision around the Jewish high holy days, a three week period which runs from Sept. 16 through Oct. 7.
Yaron has not tipped his hand either way but he has been critical of a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the country's judicial system. Yaron has also clashed with lawmakers over sharp interest rate increases since April 2022 that have boosted bank profits while hurting mortgage holders.
Army Radio also reported, without citing sources, that Netanyahu would choose economist Leo Leiderman to replace Yaron.
Netanyahu's office declined to comment.
Leiderman in 2013 was chosen by Netanyahu to replace outgoing governor Stanley Fischer but he withdrew his candidacy.
Later on Monday, Yaron and the monetary policy committee will decide on interest rates. A Reuters poll showed 15 of 16 economists expect the benchmark rate to stay at 4.75% for a second straight meeting in the wake of the inflation rate easing to 3.3% in July.
In early trading, the shekel was steady at a 3.80 rate versus the dollar, its weakest level since March 2020.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Jamie Freed and Shri Navaratnam)
