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 11th of November 2016, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP over the last week, going from €/LBP 1,673.33 to €/LBP 1,638.65. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by 0.56% to reach 267.72 points.
International Forex Market:
After the unexpected election of Donald Trump, the Euro spiked to €/$1.13; however, this rise was short-lived as investors’ expectations of a potential increase in interest rates became more tangible. Hence, the euro depreciated against the dollar with the euro/dollar exchange rate falling to €/$1.087 this week, from €/$1.11, last week.
Commodities:
Over the past week, gold prices decreased from $1,301.56/ounce to $1,255.89/ounce this week.
11/11/2016 | 04/11/2016 | %Change | YTD | |
Euro / LBP | 1,638.65 | 1673.330 | -2.07% | |
Euro / Dollar | 1.0870 | 1.1100 | -2.07% | |
NEER Index** | 267.72 | 266.22 | 0.56% | 59.00% |