During the week ending on the 25th of May 2017, Broad Money M3 rose by a weekly LBP 660B ($438M) to reach LBP 204,754B ($135.82B). Moreover, M3 recorded a 8.18% annual increase and a 2.87% rise since the start of the year.
M1 increased by LBP 68B ($45M) over the same period to LBP 9,269B ($6.15B). The rise is mainly attributed to a decrease in currency in circulation by LBP 77B ($51M) and an increase in demand deposits by LBP 145B ($96M).
Total deposits (excluding demand deposits) increased by LBP 592B ($393M) over the same period, as term and savings deposits denominated in local currency rose by LBP 35B ($23M) during the week, and deposits denominated in foreign currencies also expanded by $370M.
Over the above mentioned period, the broad money dollarization rate increased from 59.84% on May 18th to 59.92% by May 25th. According to the Central Bank, the overnight interbank rate remained stable at 3% between December 2016 and March 2017.
In the Treasury Bills auction held on June 1st, 2017, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) raised LBP 205B ($136M), through the issuance of bills maturing in 3 months (3M) and 12 months (12M) and notes maturing in 60M. The highest demand was achieved on the 60M note, which held a 49.35% share of total subscriptions, while the 3M and 12M bills accounted for the remaining shares of 24.80% and 25.85%, respectively. The discount rate on the 3M and 12M bills stood at 4.39% and 5.08% respectively while the coupon rate on the 60M note registered 6.74%. Existing maturities exceeded new subscriptions by LBP 59B ($39M).