Shea Levin — text status

The S&P credit rating agency on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for the Israeli economy to 5.5 percent for this year and 7 percent for next year, largely because of the impact of Nvidia's operations in Israel, in a special review that did not include a new credit rating. S&P warned that security risks will stay high, including the possibility of another round of confrontation with Iran. It also said that without a political decision Israel will operate on a continuing budget, and that any fiscal correction would likely come from tax hikes. The agency put Israel's debt-to-GDP ratio at 68.5 percent last year.