Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the Lebanese Pound steadied 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.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank reached $42.15B in July 2017 compared to $40.71B in December 2016.
The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits rose from 65.82% in December 2016 to 66.71% by the end of June 2017.
By Friday August 25th, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP going from €/LBP 1,771.01 on the 18th of August to €/LBP 1,778.55, this week.
As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it fell by 0.46% over the past week to stand at 111.50 points.
International Forex Market:
The Dollar suffered this week after US President Donald Trump suggested a shutdown of the government was possible and threatened to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
Commodities:
Gold prices dropped from $1294.76/ounce to $1287.47/ounce, this week.