Lebanese Forex Market:
The Lebanese pound’s peg against the dollar maintained the same mid-price of $/LBP 1,514 over the past week however going from last week’s range of $/LP 1,513.5 -1,514.5 to this week’s narrower range of $/LBP 1,514 – 1,514.25.
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 64.84% in June 2016.
By Friday 26th of August, 2016, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate fell by 0.24%, over the last week, going from €/LP 1,705.59 to €/LP 1,701.52. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it grew by 0.08% to reach 165.66 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar grew stronger against the dollar over the past week with the euro/dollar exchange rate falling by a weekly 0.24% to €/$1.1287. The dollar’s strength is most likely linked to markets believing that the statement Janet Yellen is expected to give on Friday will support a rate hike later in September. The dollar was also boosted by data released earlier this week indicating that July’s new US home sales reached their highest level in 9 years.
Commodities:
Over the week, as a result of strong US data and a strong US dollar, demand for gold fell bringing the price of an ounce down from last week’s $1,345.57/ounce to this week’s $1,327.00/ounce.