Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the dollar remained stable on the Lebanese Forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 since last week.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $39.26B in April 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.13% by the end of March 2017.
By Friday May 19, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,643.17 on May 12th to €/LBP 1,680.86, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it dropped by 1.05% over the past week to stand at 114.73 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar depreciated against the euro this past week falling by 2.29% to €/$ 1.1150. Pressure on the Dollar increased after news that Trump interfered with a federal investigation, in which he asked his now-dismissed FBI Director James Comey to end the agency’s investigation into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia.
Commodities:
Gold prices rose this week from $1,230.80/ounce to $1,272.30/ounce.