Lebanese Forex Market
Demand for the dollar on the Lebanese forex market steadied over the past week, where the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar maintained a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.25 within the range of $/LP 1,514 -1,514.50.
Foreign assets (excluding gold) at the Central Bank increased 9.46% since the beginning of the year to $40.60B by September 2016, boosted by the recent swap executed by BDL with the MoF and Lebanese banks. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 64.88% in December 2015 to 64.76% in August 2016.
By Friday the 4th of November 2016, the euro appreciated against the dollar-pegged LP over the last week, going from €/LBP 1,644.38 to €/LBP 1,673.33. As for the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) of the LBP, it rose by 0.22% to reach 266.24 points.
International Forex Market:
The dollar weakened further this week as US presidential election approaches an end. Thus, the euro appreciated against the dollar with the euro/dollar exchange rate increasing to €/$1.11 this week, from €/$1.0908, last week.
Commodities:
Over the past week, gold prices increased from $1,266.76/ounce to $1,301.56/ounce this week.
04/11/2016 | 28/10/2016 | %Change | YTD | |
Euro / LBP | 1,673.33 | 1644.38 | 1.76% | |
Euro / Dollar | 1.1100 | 1.0908 | 1.76% | |
NEER Index** | 266.24 | 265.66 | 0.22% | 58.12% |