Lebanese Forex Market:
Demand for the Dollar on the Lebanese forex market increased over the past week as the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar increased from a mid-price of $/LP 1,513.5 within the range of $/LP 1,513 -1,514 to a mid-price of $/LP 1,513.75 within the range of $/LP 1,513.50 -1,514.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank slightly slid by 0.91% since the beginning of the year to $36.75B by July 2016. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.73% in May 2016.
By Friday 5th of August, 2016, 2:00 pm Beirut time, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate rose by 0.44%, over the last week, going from €/LP 1,673.48 to €/LP 1,680.86. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) it fell by 0.27% to reach 166.61 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar lost ground against the euro this week, after the reports showed higher jobless claims and lower non-farm payrolls in the US. In fact, the euro dollar exchange rate rose from €/$1.1101 to €/$1.1150.
Commodities:
Over the week, gold saw its price rise from $1,350.59/ounce to $1,362/ounce this Friday, as it is negatively correlated to the value of the US dollar.