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 decreased by 1.56% by the end of March, to $36.59B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.69% in February 2016.
By Friday 6th of May, 2016, 2:15 pm Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate added 1.02%, over the last week, increasing from €/LP 1,704.82 to €/LP 1,722.17. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it added a weekly 0.13% to 166.17 points, registering a 1.32% year-to-date decrease.
International Forex Market:
The euro also appreciated against the dollar as the exchange rate went up from last week’s €/$ 1.1309 to €/$ 1.1424 this week. The dollar weakened against the Euro as the pace of job growth in the U.S was lower than expected in April, highlighting a tough decision to be made by the Fed policy makers concerning new rate hikes in 2016.
Commodities:
The weaker dollar led gold prices to edge up from $1,257.61/ounce last week to $1,288.58/ounce at 3:30 Beirut time this Friday.