Lebanese Forex Market:
Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market remained unchanged over the past week as the value of the Lebanese Pound steadied at $/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 5th of February, 2016, 10:30 am Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate added 2.69%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,643.48 to €/LP 1,687.65. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it decreased by a weekly 0.82% to 167.76 points.
International Forex Market:
The Euro rose 2.69% against the dollar from €/$1.0902 to a quote of €/$1.1195, after the release of weak economic data in the US which led to the greenback selloff, namely US Non-farm payrolls and service sector data. In the same context and due to the weak data, investors’ concerns rose regarding whether the Fed will be able to raise interest rates in 2016 or not.
Commodities:
Similarly, the economic slowdown in the US drove gold prices higher this week. As a matter of fact, the price of gold increased from last week’s $1,116.37/ounce to $1,148.50/ounce this week.
