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 $43.12 billion (B) in October 2018.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 68.72% in December 2017 to 69.14% by September 2018.
Over the week, the Euro shyly appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP, as it climbed from last week’s €/LBP 1,711.73 to €/LBP 1,712.94 this week.
In turn, the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP recorded a marginal 0.21% weekly decline, to stand at 118.52 points by Nov. 16th 2018.
International Forex Market
The Euro-dollar remained flat at 1.1363, marginally rising by 0.07% over the week. In fact, the uncertainties attached to Britain’s divorce deal presented to the EU this week shook key currencies especially the pound and the euro. Investors resorted to the safety of the US dollar (USD) amid fears of an unclear future for the region. The USD was also supported by the US October Retail Sales Data released this week, showing a rebound from last month’s 0.1% dip to an uptick of 0.8% in October.
Commodities
Gold prices grew over the week from $1,211.42 per ounce last week to $1,223.15/ounce this week.