Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the Lebanese Pound rose over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.00 compared to last week’s range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 .
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $41.06B in June 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.58% by the end of May 2017.
By Friday July 21st, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,720.06 on the 14th of July to €/LBP 1,756.24, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it dropped by 1.02% over the past week to stand at 112.45 points.
International Forex Market:
The Euro reached its highest level since August 2015 against the dollar rising by 2.10% to €/$1.1650 after the ECB meeting that hinted at the possibility of reducing quantitative easing this fall.
Commodities:
Gold prices rose from $1,221.7/ounce to $1,247.99/ounce, this week.