resolve all examination issues through discussion with the examiner - in - charge or reserve bank management, it is inevitable that examiners and bankers will sometimes differ over examination findings despite our best efforts. for those cases, the federal reserve has a robust appeals process, as well as an independent ombudsman, to provide institutions with a fair and thorough review of complaints. 11 a banking organization ’ s board or management may appeal any material supervisory determination to a review panel composed of reserve bank staff that were not involved in the original supervisory determination and that were selected after consultation with staff at the board in washington. bank managers may submit relevant information to this panel in writing and may appear in person. if the bank ’ s managers or board believe this panel ’ s decision did not address their concerns in a satisfactory manner, the bank may make a second appeal to the president of the relevant reserve bank. a third review – undertaken by the member of the board of governors with oversight responsibility for the federal reserve ’ s banking supervision, who at present is governor tarullo – can be requested if the institution is still not satisfied that its concerns have been addressed. the federal reserve ’ s ombudsman mediates complaints, facilitates appeals, and, where appropriate, refers matters to committees of the board. 12 we are working to increase awareness of the ombudsman ’ s office and encouraging bankers to use the ombudsman for matters that cannot be resolved at the local level. importantly, the ombudsman reaches out to every institution that has filed an appeal within six months after the appeal has been decided to ensure that no retaliation or other unjustified reactions have taken place. the ombudsman has broad authority to investigate claims of retaliation, and, when appropriate, will report complaints to the board. the board will not tolerate retaliation against banking organizations that file appeals or raise concerns about the supervisory process. beyond simple fairness, hearing concerns from banks about supervisory practices gives us extremely valuable feedback that will help us improve supervision and better understand the issues that banks and examiners confront in the field. for more information regarding the appeals process, see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 1995 ), “ section 309 of the riegle community development and regulatory improvement act of 1994, intra - agency appeals process ”, supervision and regulation letter sr 95 – 18 ( march 28 ), www. federalreserve. gov / boarddocs / srletters / 1995 / sr9518. h

while employment in the business sector has been at a standstill for a long time. another shadow is the standstill in exports. looking at a somewhat longer period, we see that exports have not grown for two years, and have recently even contracted. this is connected first of all to moderating global demand, and also to problems specific to large companies, but exports, as we know, are also affected by the exchange rate of the shekel, which has strengthened in the past year. i should note that the aggregate sensitivity of exports to the exchange rate is not high. the estimate of exports ’ sensitivity to the exchange rate is just 0. 2. while the profitability of high technology companies is affected by the exchange rate, the sensitivity of low technology industries to the exchange rate is much higher. while the share of low technology and mixed - low technology manufacturing in exports is just 20 percent, these industries comprise about 60 percent of manufacturing employment. we take this fact into account as well when considering monetary policy decisions. monetary policy is faced with a number of challenges. as we know, the shekel strengthened in the past year. there are real forces strengthening the shekel, including mainly the fact that the israeli market is growing faster than other economies. but the forces for appreciation are also derived from the global monetary environment. obviously, the production of natural gas in and of itself is good news – it improves the energy situation in the economy and bis central bankers ’ speeches contributes to the balance of payments. but it also obviously has an effect on the exchange rate. as i noted, interest rates in the major economies are very low. the interest rate in europe was recently lowered to just 0. 25 percent, and the major central banks are continuing to pursue quantitative easing policies. this situation has led us to the low current interest rate of 1 percent. the low interest rate environments – both domestic and global – obviously have an effect on asset prices, including home prices. the lack of investment alternatives increases the demand for homes for investment purposes, while the housing market is also affected by the low level of supply. the government is making efforts to increase the supply of homes, but in the meantime, these efforts are not leading to a moderation of prices. monetary policy focuses on meeting the bank of israel ’ s goals : maintaining price stability, supporting economic activity, and strengthening and maintaining financial stability. for this purpose the bank of israel uses a number of tools. the main tool is, of course, the interest