Upcoming US Presidential Elections Weakens the Dollar this Week

Lebanese Forex Market

Demand for the dollar on the Lebanese forex market steadied over the past week, where the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar maintained a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 within the range of $/LP 1,514 -1,514.50.

Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank increased 9.46% since the beginning of the year to $40.60B by September 2016, boosted by the recent swap executed by BDL with the MoF and Lebanese banks. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.76% in August 2016.

By Friday the 4^th of November 2016, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP over the last week, going from €/LBP 1,644.38 to €/LBP 1,673.33. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by 0.22% to reach 266.24 points.

International Forex Market:

The dollar weakened further this week as US presidential election approaches an end. Thus, the euro appreciated against the dollar with the euro/dollar exchange rate increasing to €/$1.11 this week, from €/$1.0908, last week.

Commodities:

Over the past week, gold prices increased from $1,266.76/ounce to $1,301.56/ounce this week.