Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the Lebanese Pound stabilized over the past week on the Lebanese Forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,514 – 1,514.5 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 last week.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $38.78B in May 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.38% by the end of April 2017.
By Friday June 23rd, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,684.48 on June 16th to €/LBP 1,684.03, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by 0.27% over the past week to stand at 114.66 points.
International Forex Market:
The euro depreciated against the dollar this week falling by 0.03% over the past week to €/$ 1.1171. Nonetheless, last week’s strengthening dollar eased this week as investors’ evaluation of the FED’s hawkish tone was ongoing.
Commodities:
The flattening of US treasury yields following the investors’criticism on the FED’s increase of interest rates last week was the primary driver of higher Gold prices, which rose from $1,255.16/ounce last week to $1,256.65/ounce.