The dollar Gains Ground after the Fed’s Interest Rate Hike

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 $38.78B in May 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.38% by the end of April 2017.

By Friday June 16th, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,684.93 on June 9th to €/LBP 1,684.48, this week.

As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by 0.06% over the past week to stand at 114.35 points.

International Forex Market:

The euro lost ground against the dollar this week falling by 0.03% over the past week to €/$ 1.1174. The dollar’s strength is mainly due to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this past Wednesday.

Commodities:

On account of the dollar’s strength, gold prices declined from $1,274.22/ounce last week to $1,255.16/ounce this week.

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