Lebanese Pound Appreciated Against the Dollar to $/LP 1,508

Demand for the dollar in the Lebanese Forex market declined during the week as the Lebanese pound’s peg against the dollar went from $/LP 1,507-1,511 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,509 to $/LP 1,506–1,510 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,508. Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank grew by a monthly 0.7% to reach $38.86B at the end of June. As forthe dollarization rate of private sector deposits, it slid from 65.71% in December 2014 to 65.15% by May.

The euro depreciated to its lowest level in 7 weeks against the dollar by 2.02% to stand at €/$ 1.0887, on Thursday 16th of July. This came after the European Central Bank’s Council left interest rates unchanged. Demand for gold fell to a nine-month low after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen restated that U.S. interest rates will probably increase this year. Accordingly, the price of gold dropped from last week’s $1,162.86/ounce to $1,143.96/ounce today at 15:30 pm, Beirut time.

By Thursday 16th of July, 2015, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP appreciated against the euro going from €/LP 1,674.98 to €/LP 1,641.22. The Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER) increased by a weekly 0.77% to 165.82 points, bringing its year-to-date gains to 12.56%.

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