Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the Lebanese Pound dropped over the past week on the Lebanese forex market with the value of the Lebanese Pound trading within the range of $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514 compared to last week’s range of $/LP 1,513.5-1,514 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,513.75.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $41.06B in June 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.58% by the end of May 2017.
By Friday August 4th, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,765.58 on the 28th of July to €/LBP 1,791.36, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it dropped by 0.53% over the past week to stand at 111.67 points.
International Forex Market:
The Dollar weakened this week on the back of slower growth rate in the US service sector. In details, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed that the non-manufacturing index dropped to 53.9 points in July from 57.4 points in June.
Commodities:
With a weaker dollar, gold prices rose from $1,258.01/ounce to $1,268.80/ounce, this week.