Demand for the Dollar Fell in the Lebanese Forex Market

Lebanese Forex Market:

Demand for the dollar in the Lebanese Forex market weakened during the week as the Lebanese pound appreciated against the dollar from $/LP 1,505–1,509 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,507 to $/LP 1,504–1,508 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,506. Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank dropped by a monthly 0.12% to reach $38.81B at the end of July. As for the dollarization rate of private sector deposits, it slid from 65.71% in December 2014 to 65.08% by June.

By Friday 8th of August, 2015, 11:30 pm Beirut time, the dollar-pegged LP also depreciated against the euro going from €/LP 1,647.09 to €/LP 1,680.71. The Nominal effective exchange Rate (NEER) declined by a weekly 0.27% to 166.41 points, bringing its year-to-date gains to 12.96%.

International Forex Market:

The euro was bullish against the dollar over the week, at it appreciated by 0.23% to €/$ 1.1149.  Combination of Chinese deflationary pressures and poor US Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) figures last week, in which 215K new jobs were created comparted to the average monthly 245K for the past year have given the Euro a breather. Furthermore, the 86B Euros Greek bailout agreement aided the single currency over the week.

Commodities:

Gold improved from last week’s quote of $1,089.65/ounce to $1,119.00/ounce, possibly due to the weak performance of the dollar.

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