During the week ending on December 7th, Broad Money (M3) declined by a weekly LBP 103B ($68M) to reach LBP 206,536B ($137B). On a yearly basis, M3 grew by 4.81% and by 3.71% since the start of the year.
Over the same period, M1 increased by LBP 10B ($6M) to LBP 10,017B ($7B). The increase is due to an increase in currency in circulation by LBP 265B ($176M) which outweighed the decline in demand deposits by LBP 255B ($169M).
Total deposits (excluding demand deposits) fell by LBP 113B ($75M) over the same period, as term and savings deposits denominated in local currency (LBP) dropped by LBP 398B ($264M) during the week, while deposits denominated in foreign currencies added $189M.
The Broad Money dollarization rate rose from 61.96% on November 30, 2017 to 62.13% on December 07th, 2017. According to the Central Bank, the overnight interbank rate steadied at 4% for the months of August and September 2017.
In the Treasury Bills Auction held on December 07, 2017, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) raised LBP 607B ($403M), through the issuance of bills maturing in 3 months (3M), and notes maturing in 3 years (3Y) and 7Y. The highest demand was achieved on the 3Y notes, which accounted for 66% of total subscriptions, while the 3M bills and the 7Y notes accounted for the remaining shares of 3.4% and 30.6%, respectively. The discount rate on the 3M bills stood at 4.87%, while the coupon rate on the notes maturing in 3Y and 7Y stood at 6.5%, and 7.08%, respectively. New subscriptions exceeded existing maturities by LBP 299B ($199M).