Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the dollar remained stable 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 since last week.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $38.78B in May 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.13% by the end of March 2017.
By Friday June 2, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,692.02 on May 26th to €/LBP 1,691.26, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it dropped by 0.38% over the past week to stand at 114.20 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar strengthened against the euro this week rising by a mere 0.04% to €/$ 1.1219. The dollar rose after the positive employment data of May, where unemployment rate fell to 4.3% and private payroll jobs reached 253,000 in May 2017 compared to an estimated 181,000. This has revived hopes of an expected interest rate hike in June this year.
Commodities:
Gold prices slightly fell this week from $1,265.51/ounce to $1,262.83/ounce.