Lebanese Forex Market:
Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market increased over the past week as the value of the Lebanese Pound went up from a quote of $/LP 1,510.5-1,514.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512.5 to a quote of $/LP 1,513-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,513.5.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank fell by a monthly 1.91% to $37.09B at the end of December 2015. As for the dollarization rate of private sector deposits, it slid from 65.71% in December 2014 to 64.57% by November 2015.
By Friday 29th of January, 2016, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate added 0.62%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,633.38 to €/LP 1,643.48. As for the Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER), it decreased by a weekly 0.21% to 169.14 points.
International Forex Market:
The Euro rose 0.62% against the dollar to a quote of €/$1.0902, as investors believed that the US economic growth would not accelerate as expected. The Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged strengthened this belief.
Commodities:
The US and Chinese economic slowdowns pushed up demand for the safe haven. The price of gold increased from last week’s $1,096.40/ounce to $1,116.37/ounce this week.