Prime Minister Ehud Barak (C) and President Ezer Weizman (R) toast to David Klein (L) the new Bank of Israel Governor during a swearing in ceremony January 17 at the president's residence. Klein signalled today that interest rates would likely fall saying the present rate was not needed to meet the government's inflation target in 2000. Klein has been a senior director at the central bank since 1987 and reputedly a hard line monetarist and close advisor to the former Bank of Israel Governor Jacob Frenkel who stepped down on January 9.

JWH