Lebanese Forex Market:
Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market increased over the past week as the value of the dollar increased from $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514 to $/LP 1,514-1,514.50 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank inched up by 0.42% by the end of February, to $37.17B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 65.71% in 2014 to 64.88% in 2015.
By Friday 11th of March, 2016, 12:30 am Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate increased 1.35%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,652.52 to €/LP 1,674.83. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it depreciated by a weekly 0.47% to 167.45 points, with a 0.56% year-to-date decrease.
International Forex Market:
The Euro inched up by a weekly 1.35% against the dollar as the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, stated that no further interest rates decrease might be needed. The euro’s progress this week mainly occurred after the ECB lowered interest rates and expanded its quantitative-easing program during Thursday’s meeting. This coincided with a weaker dollar that declined due to concerns that a global economic slowdown would decrease the Federal Reserve’s capacity to tighten monetary policy.
Commodities:
Gains in the stock markets, after the ECB meeting, curbed investors away from safe haven assets. This pushed down demand for gold as reflected by the decline in its price from last week’s $1,270.06/ounce to $1,263.86/ounce this week.