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 $36.59B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.69% in February 2016.
By Friday 13th of May, 2016, 2:45 pm Beirut time, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate lost 0.64%, over the last week, decreasing from €/LP 1,722.17 to €/LP 1,711.16. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it added a weekly 0.23% to 166.55 points, registering a 1.09% year-to-date decrease.
International Forex Market:
The euro also appreciated against the dollar as the exchange rate went up from last week’s €/$ 1.1424 to €/$ 1.1351 this week. The euro weakened against the dollar mainly due to frail economic Eurozone Data. The GDP growth registered in Europe during the first quarter of the year was proven to be below expectations.
Commodities:
The stronger dollar led gold prices to fall from $1,288.58/ounce last week to $1,272.36/ounce at 3:00 Beirut time this Friday.