Higher Demand for the Lebanese Pound on the Lebanese Forex Market Over the Week

Lebanese Forex Market:

Demand for the Lebanese Pound on the Lebanese forex market increased this week as the exchange rate went down from last week’s quote of $/LP 1,511.5-1,515.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,513.5 to $/LP 1,510.5-1,514.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512.5. Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank dropped by a monthly 1.34% to reach $37.74B at the end of October 2015. As forthe dollarization rate of private sector deposits, it slid from 65.71% in December 2014 to 64.62% by September this year.

By Friday 27th of November, 2015, 15:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP appreciated against the euro as the exchange rate slid by a weekly 0.98% from €/LP 1,611.37 to €/LP 1,595.54. As for the Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER), it increased by a weekly 0.46% and by 14.96% since year-start to 169.36 points.

International Forex Market:

The euro depreciated against the dollar, falling by a weekly 0.98% to €/$ 1.0584. This was mainly on the back of investors speculating that the European Central Bank will increase its stimulus in its meeting next week. In addition, the possibility that the US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates also contributed to this weekly depreciation. Thus, it is expected that these two currencies will reach parity.

 Commodities:

 The price of gold dropped by 2.47% from last week’s $1,084.20/ounce to $1.057.40/ounce.

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