The Marker, Hadar Horesh, 13.12.2020

The high level of inequality in Israel, rising housing prices and the growing shortage of public housing, ensure the demand for Amidar's services and its financial stability. This is what the analysts of the credit rating company S&P state, which give a high score to the bonds issued by the government company Amidar, which provides public housing services to the needy. S&P gave the bonds issued by Amidar a stable AAA rating.

Amidar is a state-owned company. It raised about NIS 1 billion by issuing bonds that carry an annual interest rate of about 1.5%. The bonds are currently traded on the stock exchange at an annual (net) return of about half a percent, which indicates high investor confidence. The global review does not address the managerial shocks the company is going through. Recently , Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman ousted the company's chairman Kobi Amsalem during what was perceived as a political move .

The company holds an inventory of 38,000 apartments for public housing purposes. Despite the expansion of the needy population, the stock of dwellings has not increased, and even decreased in the last decade, partly because the state has expanded the support of needy people in need of free market rent assistance.

The S&P review reads: "Despite the outbreak of the corona plague, we expect demand for Amidar 's services to be high for a number of reasons: First, inequality in Israel is high, a growing proportion of the population does not live in the apartment they own, especially in the face of rising housing prices. The epidemic has worsened the economic situation of some of the population, and thirdly, the population growth rate is about 2% per year, while the public housing supply is not expected to grow at a rate similar to the increase in demand, so the pressure on Amidar to increase supply will increase. Clear decisions. " Analysts warn that government instability may lead to a postponement of decisions to increase the supply of public housing.

The review of Amidar is part of S & P's global publicity on public housing companies around the world. The review includes public housing companies in Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

In the overview, analysts note that in general, public housing companies have maintained their stability, despite a decline in rental income as a result of the plague and tenants' difficulties in meeting payments. Government aid operations have reduced the harm to companies. Analysts expect an increase in the capital raising of public housing companies, given the increase in the needs and possibilities of raising capital in a low interest rate environment.