Stagnant Demand for the Dollar on the Lebanese Forex Market

Lebanese Forex Market:

Demand for the dollar on the Lebanese forex market steadied as the exchange rate remained at $/LP 1,510-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512. Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank dropped by a monthly 1.34% to reach $37.74B at the end of October 2015. As for the dollarization rate of private sector deposits, it slid from 65.71% in December 2014 to 64.96% by August this year.

By Friday 6th of November, 2015, 15:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP appreciated against the euro as the exchange rate slid by 1.29% from €/LP 1,659.31 to €/LP 1,637.90. As for the Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER), it increased by a weekly 0.38% and by 14.17% since year-start to 168.20 points.

International Forex Market:

The Dollar was mostly bullish against the Euro throughout the week, as the Euro fell by 1.29% from last week’s €/$ 1.1007 to its lowest level in 7 months €/$ 1.0865 (lowest in 7 months). This mainly came on the back of non-farm private employment rising more than expected in October, enhancing the optimism over the health of the U.S. economy and in turn supporting a U.S. interest rate hike this year.

Commodities:

With a stronger dollar and experts expecting a December rate-hike in the US, gold dropped by 3.22% from $1,142.40/ounce to $1,105.61/ounce. 

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