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.