I wrote earlier this week about a string of anecdotal evidence, which points to Israel starting to emerge from the recession. 

Today’s front page of the Globes financial newspaper confirms these findings. There is a series of positive headlines. For example: –

• The investment house Barclays Capital has raised its rating of the Israeli banking sector.
• The Israeli Treasury is enacting legislation to allow overseas mutual funds to trade locally, which will lead to greater competition in the financial markets.
• Israel’s pharmaceutical industry, a major player in the local hightech sector, is continuing to show strong export sales and few layoffs.

Is everything rosy? The OECD warns that true national growth will only be seen in 2010. Encouragingly: –

The report says that the recession in Israel is at its height, due to high exposure to global trade. However, the damage is limited, by only small difficulties in the Israeli financial system and by the lack of a real estate prices bubble in Israel. ……….The OECD also emphasizes that Israel must be adamant on cutting the budget deficit, saying, “In the short term fiscal discipline seems reasonably assured, but less so in the medium term.”