Lebanese Forex Market:
Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market remained unchanged over the past week as the value of the dollar steadied at $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank inched up by 0.42% by the end of February, to $37.17B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.67% in January 2016.
By Thursday 24th of March, 2016, 3:00 pm Beirut time, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate decreased 1.12%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,700.16 to €/LP 1,681.16. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it appreciated by a weekly 0.40% to 167.53 points, recording a 0.51% year-to-date decrease.
International Forex Market:
The dollar regained its bullish trend against the euro this week, as the European currency registered 1.1152 dollar down from last week’s 1.1278, after an official of the Federal Reserve announced that an interest rate hike is expected to take place as soon as April. Also, Brussels attacks on Tuesday, and the statement on further interest rates’ cut in the Eurozone also weighed on the single currency.
Commodities:
Gold prices also followed a declining path this week as they dropped from last week’s $1,250.76/ounce to $1,220.76/ounce this week.