Lebanese Forex Market
The Lebanese Pound steadied within the range of $/LP 1,514-1,514.5 against the dollar with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25.
The peg continues to be supported by the Central Bank’s solid foreign assets, which reached $43.52 billion (B) in September 2018.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose marginally, from 68.72% in December 2017 to 68.80% by August 2018.
Over the past week, the Euro strengthened against the dollar-pegged LP, as it went from €/LBP 1,734.65 last week to €/LBP 1,746.74 this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it fell by a weekly 0.80% to stand at 118.40 points.
International Forex Market
The dollar weakened this week against the euro, as the €/$ exchange rate rose by 0.70% from €/$ 1.1507 to €/$ 1.1587. In fact, a weaker than expected rise in U.S. consumer prices in September reduced bets for a faster pace of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Moreover, the euro climbed against the dollar as the minutes of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting last month suggested the ECB’s €2.6 trillion bond-purchase program may end this year.
Commodities
Gold prices increased over the week from $1,202.96 per ounce last week to $1,224.06/ounce this week.