The five major banks have reported immense profits. They reported a 39% increase in profits with the three five earning NIS 7.5 billion between them. Bank Leumi recorded a 19% return on capital during the period. The huge profits are a direct result of the rise in interest rates allowing the banks to lend out the money of their customers which they pay no interest on to other customers at a high interest rate. More and more Israelis are beginning to put their money into interest bearing accounts, (with NIS 100 billion invested since the beginning of the year). However, Israelis still maintain over NIS 500 billion in non-interest earning checking accounts.
