Stable Interest Rates in the US Boosted the Euro Against the Dollar

Lebanese Forex Market:

Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market remained unchanged over the past week as the value of the dollar steadied at $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.

Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank decreased by 1.56% by the end of March, to $36.59B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.69% in February 2016.

By Thursday 28th of April, 2016, 12:30 pm Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate added 0.30%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,699.71 to €/LP 1,704.82. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it lost a weekly 0.35% to 165.96 points, standing at a 1.44% year-to-date decrease.

International Forex Market:

The euro appreciated against the dollar as the exchange rate went up from last week’s €/$ 1.1275 to      €/$ 1.1309 this week. The dollar weakened against the Euro as the Federal Reserve of the US kept interest rates unchanged and implied that there is no rush for the increase.

Commodities:

The weaker dollar led gold prices to edge up from $1,246.16/ounce last week to $1,257.61/ounce at 12:30 Beirut time this Friday.  

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