Demand for the dollar, in the Lebanese’s FOREX market, steadied over the week, as reflected by the Lebanese pound’s peg against the dollar that remained at $/LP 1,510-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,512. Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank rose by a monthly 2.71% to $38.89B by end-February. Meanwhile, the dollarization rate of private sector deposits stood at 65.51% in January 2015 compared to 65.71% in December 2014.
After falling to its minimum level in more than 11 years,the Euro underwent a correction this week, due to the Fed’s report stating that interest rate are unlikely to increase before December this year. The Euro appreciated against the dollar going from €/$1.0608 last week to €/$1.0674.
Gold journeyed its first weekly increase for the month of March, after the Fed signaled a slower pace of interest rate rise in the U.S. Accordingly, the price of gold increased from 1,155.90/ounce last week to $1,172.05/ounce.
By Friday March 20th, 2015, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP depreciated against the Euro, going from €/LP 1,599.16 the prior week, to €/LP 1,609.11. The Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER) lost 0.21% over the week to 164.32 points, with its year-to-date gain reaching 11.54%.