The Dollar Reduced its Losses against the Euro this week

Lebanese Forex Market

The Lebanese Pound (LP) steadied this week 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 $38.9B by the end of February 2019.

The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 68.72% in December 2017 to 70.62% in December 2018.

Over the week, the Euro slightly appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP, ending the week at €/LBP 1,713.03 compared to last week’s €/LBP 1,709.96           

As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it retreated by 0.21% over the week to 117.45 points.

International Forex Market

The euro maintained its position this week, slightly outpacing the US dollar and climbing by a weekly 0.18% to end the week at €/USD 1.1363. This can be mainly attributed to the uptick recorded in the “broad indicator of European economic data” which suggests an improved economic outlook in the euro zone in the coming period. However, it’s worthy to mention that the US dollar reduced losses against the Euro this week on the back of US GDP data for Q4 released late on Thursday exceeded market expectations.

Commodities

Gold prices slid going from last week’s $1,325.8/ounce to $1,306.36/ounce this week.

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