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 $36.59B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.69% in February 2016.
By Friday 20th of May, 2016, 3:15 pm Beirut time, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate lost 1.14%, over the last week, decreasing from €/LP 1,711.16 to €/LP 1,691.57. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it added a weekly 0.34% to 167.12 points, registering a 0.76% year-to-date decrease.
International Forex Market:
The euro lost momentum against the dollar as the exchange rate went down from last week’s €/$ 1.1351 to €/$ 1.1221 this week. The dollar witnessed a positive performance over this week as the inflation level in the U.S climbed by the most in three years (0.4% in April). Following the positive inflation figure, the Federal Reserve meeting minutes stated that interest rates’ hike could occur as soon as June.
Commodities:
The stronger dollar led gold prices to fall from $1,272.36/ounce last week to $1,256.60/ounce at 3:30 Beirut time this Friday.